Uncontrollable
by Kinky-Hoe
Summary: AU. Inuyasha Taisho has never been the brilliant type of person; a case-deprived lawyer, an empty wallet and an apartment literally falling to pieces. Add to this his helpless attraction to his 17-year old new hostess and he's potentially screwed. IY/K.
1. The Good in Goodbye

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

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**Uncontrollable**

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_"Where is the good in goodbye?" – Meredith Willson._

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_**The Good in Goodbye**_

"Yeah, I heard you… Of course I know what this means—How many times do I have to tell you that…? What? Okay, okay, relax, take a deep breath and remove that stick that's apparently been up your ass for too long—What did you just call me? No, you know what? Fuck you. How's that?"

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Inuyasha Taisho stared at his cell phone in bewilderment during several seconds before suddenly shutting it and throwing it on his couch—the wall had been tempting, but to be honest, money was one of his current problems and he couldn't afford another phone, even though smashing that ugliness of a device actually sounded like a wonderful idea.

And that was exactly why he had called his bastard of a half-brother—no, he didn't ask for a new cell phone as a Christmas present; he more like needed an arrangement for Tokyo. He needed an apartment in Tokyo. He needed his brother to find a cheap place for him since the bastard was a respected and powerful attorney general who lived and worked in the capital. But of course, asking for even such a small favor was already too much for Sesshomaru Taisho.

_"Twenty-seven. You're twenty-seven but you still act like a teenager who just realized that he's got a growing penis."_ That was what Inuyasha was to the older Taisho.

Obscenities were always welcome in the Taisho family.

Flopping down on his couch, Inuyasha rubbed his face with his hands, sighing. What was a second class lawyer like him to do? Cockroaches would soon be watching TV with him if he stayed another day in his current shitty apartment in Osaka. Actually, that would happen if he only had a TV.

A loud knocking on his door made him jump suddenly, so suddenly that he thought he'd be already having a heart-attack, even though he was still so young. "What, what the fuck do you want?" he yelled at his front door.

"Your newspaper, dumb ass! I thought you wanted me to bring you one every day? And I still want my money for yesterday's!"

Recognizing his _lovely_ and very _polite_ neighbor, Inuyasha muttered a long list of insults and in the same time wondered what kind of excuse he could tell her so that he wouldn't have to pay the newspaper—not that he was _that_ broke, but if he could save some money for lunch… he definitely wouldn't mind.

"Nazuna," he greeted with the most fake smile he could produce at the moment.

The frowning young woman standing in front of him threw a newspaper in his face without greetings or warnings and then extended an arm, her hand reaching out and visibly waiting for some money. As she noticed the indecisive look on her neighbor's face, she finally spoke, "Well? The money ain't gonna fall from the ceiling and drop in my fucking palm."

Did he mention that the girl used to swear more than he did? Hard to believe, yes. But it wasn't a joke.

"You see, Nazuna…"

As she shook her head, he knew he had to shut up. "Don't you even try!"

"My dog—"

"Ate your wallet?" she continued for him. "You don't even have a pet." Waving her hands in the air, she coldly laughed. "You're unnerving, really, I hope you know that."

He didn't know what to say.

"You could just tell me you had money problems. I would have understood—and I understand. Keep the newspaper and forget about the money."

Wait, what?

As Inuyasha saw her turning heels, he quickly reached out for her shoulder, motioning her to face him again. Dark green eyes started at him, an eyebrow arched up, and he finally said it; "Thank you."

Nazuna laughed, friendly patting his cheek. "I'm not a money whore; even if my faucets aren't gold-plated, it doesn't mean I cannot help you." And since he didn't seem to buy it, she added, "And no, I'm not holding any grudge against you for dumping me. My mother will be disappointed; she just so wanted a lawyer as her son-in-law, but I guess that's how life is supposed to be."

That seemed to curve up the corner of his lips and soon they both laughed. Although things hadn't worked between them as a couple, Inuyasha was glad to still count the young woman among his friends—not that he had many of them. Nazuna had always been helpful and supportive, and if it hadn't been for her, he would still have trouble fitting in the picture of Osaka's dangerous areas. The rent may be cheap, but delinquents were everywhere. His car didn't look like one anymore and disturbed teenagers were pleased to call him Lawyer Tweety, something he didn't really get—but that was after he had been accused of having disguised himself as a lawyer when he actually was a spy.

As if he'd bury his nose in uninteresting and addicted teenagers' business. Please.

And then came Nazuna, his neighbor. She had never really liked him; after all, he was everything she despised. He had finished school, so he was bound to a successful life—that was a principle her mother had always repeated over and over again. A false one, in fact. What was a lawyer doing in such a shitty place? Nazuna never received an answer. Soon, the spats between them had brought them closer and closer to each other, but once the sex was over, nothing remained. And Inuyasha walked away.

And she knew he was going to do it again, friendship or not.

"Good luck," she blurted out once all the laughing was done. Seeing his confused expression, she quickly added, "I know you're moving. I can see your suitcase from here. Good luck."

Inuyasha gave her a genuine smile and pulled her into an embrace, murmuring a soft "Thank you."

As soon as Nazuna left for work—or for whatever she called a job, Inuyasha wasted no time in stepping back into his apartment and sat down on his couch and began scanning the newspaper's ads. Deciding that it would be quicker to directly call one of the mentioned real-estate agencies, Inuyasha flipped his cell phone open and dialed.

And waited.

**_"Good morning, Kusao Real-Estate Agency, Jakotsu speaking," _**a husky and somewhat feminine voice answered._** "How can I help you?" **_No, maybe it was a man speaking.

Shrugging, Inuyasha answered, "I'm looking for a cheap apartment to rent… in Tokyo. Could you help me with that?" Somehow, what he had just said seemed to amuse that Jakotsu person.

**_"A cheap apartment to rent in Tokyo?"_** he—or she—repeated, laughing. _**"Well, I do have several places to offer, if you don't mind living in Ikebukuro."**_

Inuyasha furrowed his brows. "Ikebukuro? As in—"

**_"Yes, one of the most dangerous areas in Tokyo. But at least, there you can easily find subsidized buildings and—"_**

"No", he cut. "I've already experienced living in dangerous areas and even though I wouldn't exactly call it hell, if I could get a cleaner apartment in a quieter area…"

**_"For the cleaner part darling, you'd better start doing some chores,"_** commented Jakotsu._** "But tell me, what do you think of shrines?"**_

Dark brown eyes narrowed as Inuyasha tried to understand the meaning of the question. "I don't worship Buddha and I never pray." More laughing. That Jakotsu surely was in an enviable mood, wasn't he… or she?

**_"I didn't mean it like that. Anyway, I think I just found the right place for you…"_**

And Jakotsu's manicured fingers typed on keyboard…

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"My deepest and most sincere condolences again. Your mother really was a big-hearted person, Kagome."

Said Kagome handed her handkerchief to the older woman standing before her as her eyes grew teary and she couldn't help but feel more and more miserable. The loss was still too recent and her family shrine's visitors had been telling her for over a week how much of a wonderful woman her mother was, how much things weren't going to be same now.

"I know, Kaede," she replied. I know.

Exhaling heavily, the old woman asked, "What are you children going to do now?"

Kagome hated that question. She had asked herself too many times what she was going to do. And she knew that when other people such as Kaede questioned her about that, they actually meant _"You guys are in deep shit. No Mama, no work. The shrine's events aren't enough to make you all eat. You're screwed."_

Kagome Higurashi knew her options. She was seventeen, soon to be eighteen, and she had to finish her last year of high school in order to enter the University of Tokyo. The breaking point was that she had no money—at least, not enough. Her grandfather was way too old to take a job outside the shrine and being its keeper seemed to exhaust him enough. Hopefully, she had already found a part-time job at WacDonald's. Her little brother Sota was only eleven and her defunct mother's godson, Shippo, was even younger. Of course, her lazy ass of an older cousin, Miroku, could lend a hand, but she preferred not to count on him for now. Conclusion, since Mama's death, one income was missing and there was a total of five stomachs to feed everyday.

But Kagome Higurashi had already solved the problem, partly.

"We're renting Mama's bedroom."_ Thanks Sango for the idea!_

Kaede looked surprised. "This is the first time I hear such a thing."

"Well, the price includes the food, the cleaning and a part of the bills—since whoever accepts the offer will be using our electricity and our water. It's still kind of cheap though," the young girl explained.

Yet, the older woman didn't seem convinced. "But… Who would be renting… a bedroom? I mean, that person would be living with you and your family."

Kagome simply nodded. "Students might be interested since we're not far from Todai. Students from abroad trying to learn Japanese in a better way might be too! Anyone who has got a busy life and doesn't intend to spend a lot of time at home might be interested."_ Mama would have loved the idea. She always enjoyed meeting new people._

"I see."

The raven-haired girl waved goodbye as Kaede went down the shrine steps. She might have seemed cheerful and overwhelmed by the concept of renting her mother's bedroom, but the truth was that after two weeks, nobody from the agency had called.

Nobody was actually interested.

As if on cue, Sota's voice suddenly called her from his room window. "Sis!"

Kagome turned around, already heading towards their house. "Yeah?" she answered loudly.

"I think Grandpa is on the phone with someone from the agency and you might want to handle that yourself!" he shouted back.

She didn't need to be told twice. Especially when a call from the agency meant that she didn't have to forget about attending university.

Kagome rushed inside, passed the kitchen, bumped into Miroku—to whom she had advised to shave—and as soon as she reached the living room, she snatched the phone from her grandfather's hands. By the time she had done it, everyone was already dying from suspense and waiting for whatever was going to happen, pulling at Kagome's clothes, shoulders, arms… Well. Anyway.

Panting, Kagome spoke, "Hello?"

**_"Kagome?"_** asked an excited Jakotsu.

"Yeah?"

More pulling.

**_"Your bedroom tenant—ah! Can I really say that? That's just so sexy!—is coming tomorrow at 7 pm; doesn't even want to visit your house; says it has something to do with urgent work over there in Tokyo. Am I or am I not the best transsexual real-estate agent in the world?"_**

Breathing out a sigh of relief and giving the thumbs-up at her family, Kagome giggled and finally laughed with Jakotsu, going along with the compliments but thanking him more than anything. "So, what's her name? Is she studying medicine? Oh no, wait, you said she's working. Is she from abroad?" she asked excitedly, matching Jakotsu's mood.

**_"Sweetie, your tenant is a man. A lawyer. And if he's as sexy as his voice is, you'll be wishing he were homosexual."_**

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**Word counts: **1,286; 784.

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_Last revision: September 7th, 2009. Special thanks to my beta **Lyra** for her time and for helping me with the first chapters of this story._


	2. …All houses would be graves

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

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_"If it were not for guests, all houses would be graves." – Kahlil Gibran._

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_**…All houses would be graves.**_

A man.

A man would be living in her house, with her family.

It wasn't really the fact that a male would be her 'tenant' that bothered Kagome, but more the fact that it was a male lawyer. How old was he anyway? He had to be in his thirties, at least. Nearly forty to be a successful lawyer. But then again, why would a successful lawyer accept such a cheap offer? To be paying for a bedroom where to sleep, for homemade meals and for shared bathrooms was nothing near luxury. Perhaps he didn't want to bother with apartments because his stay was temporary? _Well, hotels exist._

"Are you okay, Kagome?"

The raven-haired girl looked back to her former tutor in maths, who was standing next to her. The brunette young woman had been talking about Todai's entrance exam, since they were exiting the university after a brief visit. Sango Kuwashima had been studying there for two years now and even though she had lost contact with her younger friend, ever since Kagome's mother passed away, she had managed to be there for her, comforting her and reassuring her when it came to studies. Kagome couldn't have asked for a better support, as Sango herself knew what it was to live without her parents and since she constantly remembered her not to give up her studies, no matter what. _"Don't forget about scholarships!" _Sango always said to her. _"Your grades are amazing, don't worry!"_ she also pointed out. _"I'll be there, for any kind of help you'll need."_

When Kagome had told her about the money problems she might have very soon, Sango had suggested to rent her defunct mother's bedroom. The raven-haired girl had given her a dirty look before her expression suddenly turned out to be perplexed, and Sango had explained, _"When I traveled to Europe, I came across __a__ middle-aged couple. The woman told me that her children were now studying abroad, and that she rented their bedrooms, even though she wasn't part of any exchange program for foreign students or anything. She and her husband asked me if I would like to live with them during the time I'd be spending in their town and I gladly accepted. Honestly, it was convivial and less expensive than a hotel room. Not to mention that they had themselves earned some money thanks to that idea. Everyone was satisfied in the end."_

"Are you thinking about the arrival of your guest?" insisted Sango.

Kagome nodded. "Did I tell you that it's a_ he_ and that this _he_ is a lawyer?"

Cinnamon orbs blinked before Sango started to wiggle her eyebrows in a suggestive manner. "A lawyer, huh? Yeah, Jakotsu told me about this sexy-voiced guy who will be living with you and your family," she replied. "I thought you'd never tell me about him yourself."

Kagome's jaw twitched and she gave her older friend a playful slap on her arm. "Why you guys!"

Sango stuck her tongue at her. "Hey don't worry, you'll be a great hostess, lawyer or not! But Jakotsu wants to know if he happens to have a nice ass; you know what he means…" She saw Kagome's eyes widen. "And," she added, "_I_ want to be the first to know once freaky Kagome will kiss our _Law and Order_ buddy out of the blue!"

Kagome gave her another series of playful slaps. "Hey, that kind of thing happened only once, okay? It was a bet—you know I would have never kissed Hojo if it hadn't been for Yuka!"

"Yeah, but the guy believes you'll marry him now!"

They both laughed as they recalled some of their best high school memories while heading home. Winter was slowly approaching, and Kagome hurried once she and Sango had parted ways. Shoving her hands in her leather jacket, she headed for the shrine, almost running as her cell phone indicated ten minutes to 7 pm. If she happened to be late or to be absent when her guest arrived, Kagome wasn't sure she could trust her family with handling the situation. Grandpa would mistake him for a shrine visitor, and then he would try to sell him souvenirs and Sunset Shrine key-rings; Sota and Shippo would want him to show them his car, or his laptop_—Whatever!—_and Miroku… Well, Miroku would offer him a beer before isolating himself in his bedroom again.

Kagome almost failed to notice the gray car parked a few meters away from the shrine steps as she started to climb them. Pausing, she noticed that a man was cursing at the car's trunk when he had trouble shutting it. Kagome quietly approached him, ignoring the scratches and bumps that had her pitying the car, and tried to get a better look at the man's face. A lonely suitcase was put on the sidewalk and Kagome's heart thundered in her chest as she thought that maybe, maybe this stranger could be her guest. And if he really were him, what was she supposed to tell him? _"Hi, make yourself comfortable!"_ Or she could be honest and tell him, _"Don't pay attention to everyone bitching around you; my mother died two weeks ago—by the way, you'll be sleeping in her room. Is that okay with you?"_

Once he managed to shut his trunk and to lock the doors of his car, Kagome could finally see his face. His skin was visibly tanned and she liked to believe it was natural. Long jet-black hair was pulled in a low ponytail, a messy one she noted, some locks falling on his shoulders and bangs almost covering his dark colored eyes. Much to Kagome's relief, this man didn't seem to be forty at all and perhaps he had just graduated from law school…?

Clearing her throat, Kagome spoke, "Good evening."

A pair of dark eyes looked at her and she wondered whether they were black or just dark brown. "Do I know you?" he rudely replied.

Ignoring his attitude, Kagome introduced herself. "I am Kagome Higurashi," she said, extending her arm and offering a handshake. "Are you Inuyasha Taisho—the lawyer?" _Please, don't tell me you're not him and that I just made a fool of myself in front of a perfect stranger…_

As soon as he heard her last name, Inuyasha rubbed his forehead and tried not to slap himself for the way he had talked to her. _Way to leave a first impression._ Taking her hand in his, he answered, "I am Inuyasha Taisho." He saw her smile slightly—was she relieved or something? "Huh, sorry about…"

Kagome cut him, shaking her head and giving him a wide smile. "It's okay, don't worry."

_Well… At least I won't be sleeping outside tonight…_

They climbed the shrine steps in silence, Kagome leading the way. For now, he _seemed_ to be a nice guy, even though she had known him for what, three minutes? Anyway, he _was_ indeed handsome…

Inuyasha had the feeling that he was walking a dangerous path as he followed the young woman. He hadn't listened to any of the various informations the she-man, or he-woman, from the agency had given him. He didn't know whether there were pets in the shrine nor how many persons lived there. In all honesty, he had expected an old keeper who would have tried to sell him souvenirs and good-luck charms to greet him, and instead, a rather pretty female had introduced herself, smiling and all. Inuyasha watched the way her wavy hair was brushed by the cool wind of autumn, the way her small fingers tapped on her handbag, the way her hips swayed dangerously…

_Inuyasha brought his fist to his forehead. Okay, stop right there. Don't you even try to look at her—_

"Well, Taisho-san, here we are," she interrupted his thoughts as soon as they reached the top.

"It's Inuyasha."

She smiled again. "Then it's Kagome."

He returned her smile. "Okay." He heard her talk about something regarding the shrine, mentioning her grandfather and some kind of visit, but he really didn't care. He would be living under her same roof and he would definitely be damned if in the meanwhile he didn't get to at _least_…

Inuyasha followed her as she quickened the pace, reaching the front door of her house. She opened it, head turned to him as she smiled again…

And hell broke loose.

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"I don't want any man in Mom's bedroom."

"Neither do I!"

"Did you hear us, Miroku?"

"Miroku, I'm gonna burn that magazine of yours!"

"Don't ya try kiddo. This is the latest Playboy."

Sota Higurashi glanced at the little boy sitting next to him and a pair of malicious green eyes looked back at him. Sota knew that neither Shippo nor Miroku were okay with the whole 'let's rent Mama's bedroom' idea, even though they were pretty aware of their financial situation. Actually, had their upcoming guest been a woman, Sota wouldn't have minded _that_ much. After all, his sister had to feel pretty lonely, when she was surrounded by testosterone. But a man! Another male in the house—in the family!

The clicking of the very old clock in the living room caused Sota to glance at it, and he noticed that in more or less five minutes, their McMighty Lawyer would pass the threshold of his house. Perhaps, after the personalized welcome he had prepared along with Shippo, the annoying Inu-something would get his ass out of the Sunset Shrine. At least, that was what Sota hoped.

Shippo suddenly launched himself on Miroku, who gasped in surprise, and snatched the magazine from his hands before throwing it away. The dark-haired man protested loudly, waving his hands in the air like a five-year old, but Shippo cut his whining by raising his index finger between his dark eyes, right above the tip of his nose, causing Miroku to cross his eyes.

"Miroku," started the small kid, "You _promised_. I won't get your Playmobil back if you don't lend us a hand."

Gods, he hated it when children used such powerful words, though he couldn't remember when he had ever promised anything to anyone. Slowly sitting up, Miroku muttered, "Alright, alright. What is it I gotta do anyway?"

Sota pointed at the front door and Miroku's bluish eyes widened. His little cousin had definitely watched too many _Chip and Dale_ episodes, because what the hell was that elaborated miniature trap doing behind the front door of the house?

"Just join this string with this bucket up there on the door; Shippo and I are too short to do it ourselves," explained Sota.

Miroku felt so fooled, so cheated. Was he really _that_ useless that even two little kids had demonstrated to be more creative than him? Well, maybe the real problem was that he never tried to prove anything. He never bothered to show anyone what he was capable of and he, at least, was okay with it, no matter what his _family_ liked to say about it. And so, Miroku did as Sota told him, then Shippo gave him back his Playboy magazine and Miroku checked if it didn't happen to really be a Playmobil one….

Sota dragged Shippo and Miroku back on the couch and they waited. Everything was perfect. They'd show McMighty that he wasn't wanted there while Grandpa was busy in the basement and—

"Hey," Sota suddenly turned to face Shippo. "Where's Kagome?"

The front door opened before the redhead could answer him and three pairs of eyes widened as they saw the raven-haired girl step inside. Several screams of "Stop!", "Don't!" and "No!" fell in deaf ears as Kagome's right foot slipped on Miroku's old skateboard, causing the string to be pulled. She yelled in surprise and horror as she fell on her butt and her head collided with a set of marbles. When Kagome thought it was over, she noticed a bucket full of water right above her head, but hopefully she hadn't opened the door wide enough to let in fall over her.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha's panicked voice reached her ears and she saw his hand push the front door completely open.

_No._

Grandpa Higurashi rushed upstairs, out from the basement as soon as he heard his granddaughter's shriek. "What happened, what happened?" he asked to no one while reaching the living room, tripping over several dirty socks and underwear that had to be Miroku's. As soon as his eyes settled on the petrified forms of Sota, Shippo and Miroku and on a very soaked Kagome being carried by a perfect stranger, Grandpa grabbed the nearest object he could reach—which happened to be a pink umbrella—and launched himself at the tall man, trying to stab his back with his non-pointed weapon and screaming bloody murder.

"Ha! Touch not my baby granddaughter! I'll make you regret it! She's only _seventeen_!"

The sudden attack caught Inuyasha by surprise and didn't give him the time to reach the couch where he had wanted to place the soaked and perhaps injured Kagome. He dropped her on the floor and she hissed, muttering a never ending list of curses while Miroku rushed to her side, helping her standing up. Sota and Shippo stared at each other, knowing that they would soon be dead and buried with Mama Higurashi, but there was actually nothing that could prevent them from the upcoming wrath of the older girl.

Inuyasha spun around, grabbing the_—pink umbrella? Huh?_

"Hey, wait a moment, Sir!" he loudly protested. "I'm Inuyasha Taisho!"

Grandpa's eyes narrowed and a heavy silence occupied the entire room. The old man slowly turned around to face the other members of his family. Sota was glaring at Inuyasha while Shippo traced patterns on the floor with his foot and Miroku was patting Kagome's back. Inuyasha took his silence as a good sign. _My name must have made him realize his fault…_

"Who the bloody hell is he?" Grandpa asked to his grandchildren, causing Inuyasha's brow to twitch.

Well, perhaps he still had a long way to go… A little bird was already whispering in his ear that the little trap Kagome had fallen in _might_ have actually been destined to him.

Maybe.

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**Word counts:** 1,432; 990.

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_Last revision: September 9th, 2009. Special thanks to my beta **Lyra** for her time and for helping me with the first chapters of this story._


	3. No Mean Art

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

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_"Sleeping is no mean art: for its sake, one must stay awake all day." – Friedrich Nietzsche._

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_**No Mean Art**_

_Seventeen._

Inuyasha collapsed on his queen-sized bed, breathing in the scent of freshly washed sheets. They had to use flowers perfumed detergent… or was it fruit? Sighing, Inuyasha rolled on his back and he almost had a heart attack when several knocks came from the door. Sitting up, Inuyasha cleared his throat, "C-Come in."

The door opened and the old figure of Kagome's grandfather stepped inside, offering him a warming smile. "Is everything fine, young man?" he asked, glancing at what used to be his daughter's bedroom.

Slightly nervous, Inuyasha nodded. "The room seems pretty empty, I have to admit… But it's okay."

Grandpa Higurashi nodded, not without letting out a pained sigh. "Everything feels so empty ever since she's gone…" he almost whispered.

"Yeah… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"Grandpa?" a third voice interrupted from the hallway. "What are you doing?"

_Kagome._

The old man turned around and Inuyasha didn't listen to whatever they both said to each other. Her presence reminded him again one fact that had been disturbing his mind and most of all his _conscience_ for several hours now. The girl was seventeen—he had fantasized on a seventeen year-old _schoolgirl_, damn it! Inuyasha ran a moist hand through his dark mane. Okay, perhaps he wasn't totally at fault. She had all the right curves in the right places, so she _looked_ like a grown-up woman. And a fine one too…

_No, no, no! Stop it. You're not doing it again, you pedophile._ He couldn't ignore it, that ten-year gap between them. Kagome Higurashi was a baby.

"Inuyasha?"

Looking up, his thoughts about her still being a baby were hard to believe as she stood in nothing more than shorts that disappeared under a large crimson shirt. All that exposed skin… It had to be soft. Who was he kidding? She most probably was still untouched. Her skin _was_ soft. There was no need for him to touch it to be sure, and yet… what would it feel like to touch her?

"Are you okay?" she asked, waving goodnight to her grandfather.

Inuyasha snapped out of his deranging thoughts, starting to consider calling a therapist—no, a psychologist. He would be needing one if he was going to live with her. "Yeah, don't worry."

Kagome smiled. "You know, you can use my mother's dresser… and closet too—I mean, it's yours for the time being and…" she sighed, "She wouldn't have minded, you know? She loved receiving people."

Inuyasha chuckled. "Maybe not in her personal bedroom." He had to admit that the concept of sleeping in a dead person's bedroom had given him the creeps at first. He had expected it to be murky and dark, but it hadn't been the case. Mama Higurashi's bedroom was warm and inviting, even if empty. "How's your ankle? Does it still hurt?" asked Inuyasha, recalling the previous events.

Kagome laughed, something the whole family had done at dinner when realizing how much of a ridiculous situation they had found themselves in. Inuyasha had been surprised, he had almost wondered if something was definitely wrong with them, but had quickly joined them in their crazy mood. "It's fine," the young woman answered, "Miroku and I have just checked it."

"Is he some kind of doctor?" Inuyasha frowned. Kagome's older cousin was the one person who perplexed him the most. The man seemed to be bored with everything—except his family, fortunately. Thinking about it, Miroku had to be his age at least and yet, he still lived at his grandfather's house. _Grandfather… Where are his parents? Are they also dead? Just like Kagome's mother?_

"He… could have been one…" she muttered, looking away, her expression implying that the subject was somewhat touchy—and that it was none of his business.

"Well, you're lucky then," he replied. Seeing the confused frown on her face, Inuyasha added, "Yeah, well… You seem to be a clumsy girl. If Miroku is that good, you won't have to waste _my_ money on a doctor."

Kagome scoffed, one hand coming to rest on her hip. "I'm clumsy—_that_ clumsy that I need a permanent doctor at home?" Had he said something wrong or what? "I look more like an idiot then!" she argued.

Scratching his chin, Inuyasha wondered aloud, "Well, clumsiness and idiocy are often inseparable, but—"

The sudden slamming of his door cut him short and he could hear Kagome storming upstairs. "Nice guy my ass!"

That was weird. _She is some crazy wench. And here I was fantasizing on her supposed 'curves'—yeah, right. My bad._

Muttering words of reassurance about how he was a nice guy, Inuyasha took refuge in the warm covers of his bed, far away from mean Kagome. Perhaps it was a bad idea to make her dislike him—though he still didn't get what had upset her—since she could kick his sorry ass out of her house anytime she wanted, but somehow, he was pissed. Unless she could read minds, there was no harm in cursing her in his thoughts. He was a nice guy, wasn't he? Except the fact that he fantasized on underage girls, he was one.

Inuyasha moved from the center of the bed to the right side of it, slowly drifting off to sleep. And that was when he felt it.

A warm and furry ball lying next to his feet. And that wasn't all… It was moving. Something under the covers was moving. And it was wet… _Hold on! What the fuck is in here?_ A ghost? No, that would be too gross; ghosts don't… _lick_…

"GO AWAY!" the lawyer yelled into the dark, crawling to the head board. "Get the HELL out! Leave me ALONE!"

The lights suddenly went on and Inuyasha glanced at the door. The little redhead that also lived with Kagome was staring at him with a sleepy face._ Well, good for him that he could sleep. He didn't have __weirdoes__ in his bed licking the shit out of him…_

"What's gotten into you, Mr. Lawyer?" the redhead asked. "You gotta stop yelling like that in the middle of the night. You woke me up."

Inuyasha pointed at the spot where the furry thing—wait a moment, furry? An animal? His dark brown eyes looked back to the bed and his jaw dropped when he saw an amazing obese cat with black, brown and white fur licking its paw. So _that_ was what had been scaring the hell out of him? What was he, six? _Great, just fucking great. First, a pedophile, now a guts-deprived moron scared of cats._

"Hey, Buyo," the redhead called. "Sorry, Mr. Lawyer, Buyo used to sleep with Kagome but since Mama's death, he's been kinda depressed…"

Inuyasha glared at the furry ball that was now purring in the redhead's arms. _You slept in Kagome's bed, huh? Well, you're… _not_ lucky._ "Don't call me Mr. Lawyer," he said, looking back at the kid. "I've got a name, ya know? It's Inuyasha."

Arching an eyebrow, the youngster replied, "I'm Shippo."

"Pfft, I know." _Actually, I forgot._ "Just take the monster with you, 'kay?"

"You were scared," pointed out Shippo, yawning.

Inuyasha clenched his fists. "I was not!"

"Sure you were."

"I wasn't."

"Anyway, why are you here, living with us?"

The unexpected question took Inuyasha aback. Brushing a few bangs away from his eyes, Inuyasha stared down at the bed, wondering how he was supposed to answer that question. "I… Let's say I didn't have the time to look for an apartment. Work can lead to this kind of situations…" he tried to explain. "But you'll understand that in some…" He scanned the kid from head to toe. "… Twenty years."

Shippo didn't seem convinced at all. "Yeah, sure."

"And why are _you_ here?" asked back Inuyasha. "I don't believe a redhead is actually Kagome's kid brother."

"I am Mama's godson," answered Shippo in a deadpanned manner.

"Oh," whispered Inuyasha, taken aback once more. "Sorry, kid."

"What for?" Shippo yawned, lazily closing his green eyes, and Buyo jumped back on the bed.

Inuyasha brought a hand to his mouth, mimicking Shippo's actions. "Well, if you're living here, it means that your parents passed away."

The redhead nodded and slowly moved to the door. "Buyo is gonna sleep in your bed," he said before walking out, turning the lights off.

Inuyasha sighed, exasperated, and lied down on his belly. The Higurashi family was both ordinary and weird at the same time. Perhaps he had lived alone for too long… A soft purring reached his ear and Inuyasha chuckled as he realized that Kagome's cat had made itself comfortable next to him. When it came to pets, he preferred dogs—rabbits were fine too, but Buyo seemed to be something, just like everyone living in that small house.

"I'm probably gonna kick the shit out of you tonight," warned the dark-haired man. "Got some kind of a… tormented sleep. Nazuna told me so," he murmured, half-sleeping. "No hard feelings, huh?"

"Meow."

* * *

**Word count:** 1,550.

* * *

_Last revision: September 9th, 2009. Special thanks to my beta **Lyra** for her time and for helping me with the first chapters of this story._


	4. A Job Without Any Aggravations

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

___No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_"If you have a job without any aggravations, you do not have a job." – Malcolm S. Forbes._

* * *

**_A Job Without Any Aggravations_**

"I'm already there, fucker." Huffing, Inuyasha ended the call.

That morning had definitely started the wrong way. First, a very loud purr had woken him up and Inuyasha wondered how the utterly obese cat had managed to survive sleeping in the same bed as him, though the animal must have frequently changed sleep locations during the night. Of course, waking up with a furry ball rubbing against your cheek is what girls would call sweet, but the lawyer want-to-be hadn't had time to pet the cat as he quickly realized that it was late—early for him, but definitely late for the almighty Sesshomaru Taisho and the work he had in for him. In the end, Inuyasha had ended showering faster than the speed of light, not caring about Grandfather Higurashi who wanted to wash his hands, nor about little Shippo who had 'gotta pee', nor about Sota who had to brush his teeth. Thankfully, the guy named Miroku had probably still been sleeping and there had been no Kagome in sight.

Rushing down the steps while fixing his white shirt, Inuyasha almost bumped into the Higurashi girl who was obviously in a hurry, for she was surprised to see him standing right in front of her. Holding a cordless phone in her hands, he guessed that she must just have ended a phone call as well.

"Sorry," she muttered. "We left you some _miso_ soup and some rice too… That is, if you're hungry, of course." For some reason, Kagome seemed embarrassed, but perhaps he was just seeing things… Great things in fact; the skirt of her school uniform was short enough too—_You're not going there again._

Clearing his suddenly dry throat, Inuyasha asked, "Isn't there some coffee instead?"

Kagome gave him the you-can't-be-serious type of look before walking past him to put the phone back on its base. She was about to grab her coat when he stopped her, placing his right hand on her shoulder. Her head turned and she sent him a questioning glance.

"Need a lift?"

Much to his surprise, she smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Taisho, but my friend Sango is already giving me a ride to school."

Nodding—and ignoring the fact that she had called him _'Mr. Taisho'_ even though they had agreed on not being so formal the previous day, he let her put her coat on and did just the same. However, as he was about to follow her outside, a rough hand pulled him by the elbow and Inuyasha found himself nose to nose with Grandfather Higurashi—well, sort of, since the older man was indeed older and shorter—who was glaring at him.

"Did you eat?" he suddenly asked, the glare forgotten and a smile plastered on his face.

"I'm… in a hurry, actually," Inuyasha muttered, wondering what was up with this family.

The grandfather sighed. "Will you be there for lunch? A friend is coming over; she usually cooks when Kagome is too busy or at school."

"I'm sorry—"

"I give up," the older man cut, chuckling. "A young man like you must have a lot of work to do. Anyway, the way we met yesterday was a bit dramatic, don't you think?"

Inuyasha nodded.

"Let me just tell you that I like you, Taisho. Please, feel yourself at home. We're your family—we can try to be." He patted the lawyer's shoulder, then went upstairs, yelling the kids' names and telling them they were going to be late.

_Family._ Scoffing to himself, Inuyasha left the house and went down the stairs of the Sunset Shrine only to get in his old-yet-beloved car, then turned the engine on. A family, right. He hadn't had one since his mother died, which happened a long time ago. Izayoi had raised him with all the love she could possibly give him and he had been happy, until he realized her true mistake; Inuyasha had always believed his mother when she told him great things about his great father who was apparently traveling around the world. When Izayoi passed away and he found himself between the hands of an old woman from the social services, he understood he didn't have that 'great' father he used to hear about. For several months, Inuyasha spent his days in a orphanage—the food was disgusting, by the way—and eventually, someone came looking for him. That was when he was told of his father's death. The old man had died years before Inuyasha's mother passed away.

The ex-wife of Toga Taisho was a cold woman, indeed, but underneath that exterior there was not a heart made of gold, but at least a little bit of sympathy. She had told Inuyasha about his father and some legacy he had left him, then offered him a place to stay along with a family name. Judging that whatever house would always be better than the orphanage, Inuyasha had accepted and that was also when he found about his half-brother, Sesshomaru Taisho. Whether his mother had been a home-wrecker or not, Inuyasha didn't want to know. Izayoi had been a wonderful mother, his adoptive mother wasn't a stifling person—in fact she would always be away on 'business trips', thus he guessed his father couldn't have been a total bastard. It just wouldn't fit.

Only Sesshomaru was one hell of a bastard.

"I thought you'd never come," his half-brother murmured as Inuyasha entered the courtroom, having finally arrived to the tribunal where he was expected. "Don't make me regret offering you this job, Inuyasha."

"Shut up already!" Inuyasha hissed back. "Not like I suddenly became an official lawyer thanks to you; I'm just here as a 'court-appointed' idiot."

"Recommended by _me_," Sesshomaru retorted, "a successful attorney general who has been working in Tokyo for fifteen years."

"I got it."

His brother discreetly elbowed him, nodding at short, balding man with a mustache Inuyasha assumed was a fake one, and murmured, "The Dreadful is coming our way."

The balding man bowed his head at Sesshomaru. "Taisho," he greeted, then turned to Inuyasha. "And you must be Inuyasha Taisho, the infamous half-brother."

_Infamous?_ "Of course, Sir. Pleased to meet you." Inuyasha bowed in respect. _I can't believe this shrimp is The Dreadful. He's not even intimidating, talk about well-known magistrates._

"Eh, no need to be so formal. If you don't want to call me Myoga or Mr. Ogata, then please, call me Professor," the older man said with a reassuring smile.

Inuyasha's eyes widened in confusion and he quickly diverted his gaze to Sesshomaru. Did the fucker tell him shit? What about the case Ogata should have entrusted him with? "I'm sorry?" Inuyasha squeaked, looking back at Ogata.

Laughing, the ex-magistrate explained, "A week ago, I've been offered a job as an university teacher, though my class is only reserved to the Elite of Todai. Don't worry though; there's still work here for you, Taisho. It would be a shame to have asked for you to come here from Tokyo and then tell you to just beat it." Ogata laughed again, probably finding himself cool.

The two brothers glanced at each other, the older Taisho arching an eyebrow.

"Miss Hikada!" the balding man suddenly called, waving at a woman who had just entered the courtroom. "Miss Hikada is the most successful—and not to mention beautiful—prosecutor I've ever met!" Ogata murmured at the Taisho brothers. "Please, come here!" he called again.

Inuyasha was already losing his patience and was tapping his foot on the floor. However, he didn't miss the soft wave of perfume carried by this 'Miss Hikada' and quickly tore his eyes from his shoes as an indeed beautiful woman was standing before him. Her straight, jet-black hair were pulled into a neat bun, her woman suit hugged her luscious curves and her dark eyes were staring at him in way that made him wonder whether she was actually glaring or staring at him.

"Inuyasha Taisho, let me introduce you to Kikyo Hikada. You two will be working together."

* * *

"Kagome!"

The schoolgirl was lost deep in her thoughts when her three favorite classmates interrupted her, rushing to her desk, the ringing of the bell signaling the end of their lunch break already forgotten. Yuka, Eri and Ayumi were great friends, Kagome wouldn't deny that, but every time they acted so hyper, it could only mean two things; either there was some good gossip about a random bitch they couldn't stand, or there was some good gossip that involved her.

"I heard about some lawyer—" Ayumi was cut.

"—living in your house—" Eri was also cut.

"Is he hot?" Yuka yelled.

Waving her arms, Kagome sighed. "Stop it, my head hurts every time you guys do all that… asking and… yelling… and…" She blushed. "Yes."

"Yes to what?" Eri asked, impatient.

"He _is_… well… handsome," she muttered.

"She means hot," corrected Yuka before giggling along with Eri and Ayumi.

The three girls kept on harassing their friend until the History teacher arrived and class started. Kagome was glad the whole interrogatory was over, for she had felt utterly embarrassed when she admitted that Inuyasha Taisho was handsome, although she was just telling the truth. It wasn't as if she'd start falling for him when he was ten years her senior—he _was_ twenty-seven after all—but she didn't mind a good-looking man in the Higurashi house. Moreover, she wouldn't stand a chance; he had called her a clumsy idiot the previous night.

The History teacher was abruptly interrupted when a woman knocked on the door before quickly opening it and everyone in the classroom recognized her as the receptionist in the school hall. "I'm sorry," she said to the teacher who simply shrugged, "but Miss Nosaka from Suzuki Preschool asks for Miss Higurashi to go and take her godson home."

As she heard some gasps from her classmates, Kagome corrected, "Shippo is my mother's godson," rolling her eyes. "I'll be going," she added, grabbing her backpack.

"Your grandfather wasn't home," the receptionist explained as she closed the classroom door behind Kagome. "Your… cousin I think, said to Miss Nosaka it was better to look for you if Shippo suddenly wanted to go home."

The raven-haired girl nodded. Figures that Miroku would be too lazy to go and get Shippo.

The older woman patted her back. "I'm sorry, Miss Higurashi. I heard about your mother."

"It's fine," was Kagome's cold retort.

* * *

**Word counts:** 1,368; 415.

* * *

_**Acknowledgments**_

**Julie:** You are totally right to be interested in various genres, but as far as I know, it's hard to find a story that fits in only one single genre! And yes, we _are_ going to hit a romantic part at some point in this story. I'm glad to keep you entertained! Thank you.

**Mika: **Lol, nice comparison with Mariah Carey and what's-his-name. I obviously don't mind age gaps, as long as it doesn't become creepy. There _is_ going to be more Inuyasha and Buyo and of course, more Jakotsu! Don't worry, I got have a lot of things planned for this story and it does involve Jakotsu. Keep reading my dear!

**mad4life:** Inuyasha, a _'sicko'_? Ouch, lol. Yes, Kagome is seventeen, but going on eighteen, so she's not a baby. (:


	5. Every Other Inch

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

___No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_"He is every other inch a gentleman." – Rebecca West._

* * *

_**Every Other Inch**_

"You can't keep on doing that, Shippo," Kagome stated reprovingly. "Three times this week," she muttered, sighing.

It had definitely not been the first time that she had had to skip school to pick her mother's godson at infant school. Shippo had been reluctant to go to school ever since Kagome's mother passed away. The little redhead often complained about the other kids always pointing out that he carried bad luck with him, seeing as how many members of his family died in a short amount of time, but Grandfather Higurashi never paid much attention to such things and kept on telling him to go to school without making a fuss. Kagome understood how lost Shippo had to be feeling, but then again, what could she possibly do? She wasn't a model sister, let alone an ideal godmother…

"Do you like Mr. Lawyer, Kagome?" Shippo suddenly asked, his tiny hand in the raven-haired girl's as they walked home.

Kagome was taken aback; eyes slowly widening, she wondered whether she was _that _transparent or not. Glancing at the little boy, who was _innocently_ sucking on his lollipop, Kagome remembered herself that Shippo wasn't even six years old. He couldn't have noticed the small liking she had taken into Inuyasha Taisho—and that was a good thing; she already felt ridiculous for telling her friends she found the guy quite _cute_…

"Hm, why, yes. He's nice. You… don't like Mr. Taisho?" Oh boy, her grandfather had already had some trouble accepting the whole let's-rent-Mama's-bedroom-to-a-man idea—not to mention that he hadn't liked Inuyasha at first—but if even the kids disliked the guy…

"Mr. Lawyer is odd," Shippo answered, and Kagome was a bit relieved to see the redhead had already nicknamed Inuyasha, his teeth chattering against his candy. "Miss Nosaka at school said: _It's a good thing for your family and for such a young girl as Kagome to have a good man at home,_" he imitated. "Uh, I don't think she said a 'good' man actually… She said some funny word like 'reliable'… I think."

Kagome smiled. "Reliable, yes." _He's been telling his teacher about what's happening at home?_ That couldn't be good. Kids were sometimes mean and teachers didn't always help. They tended to call for psychologists a bit too often…

"You gonna marry Mr. Lawyer?"

Kagome bit her lower lip. _Kids._ "Miss Nosaka didn't say Mr. Taisho was a reliable man I could marry," she answered. "Do you know how old I am, Shippo?"

With a cheeky smile, the little boy answered, "Seventeen going on eighteen!"

"Exactly. Eighteen doesn't mean twenty*, Shippo."

"My mom got married at nineteen," he countered.

Kagome sighed, smiling. "Yes, but her father agreed. I doubt Grandpa will let me marry Mr. Taisho, not to mention that he's way older than me. Isn't he around thirty years old?"

Shippo hummed before answering, "Sota asked him and Mr. Lawyer said he was twenty-seven."

The raven-haired girl's shoulders slumped. "See, there's a ten-year gap between us," she said more to herself than to little Shippo.

Shippo frowned. "A gap?"

Kagome immediately put her smile back on. "A ten-year gap means that there are ten years of age difference between me and… Mr. Lawyer."

"Oh."

And Shippo went back to his lollipop.

* * *

_"Call whenever you have to."_

Kikyo's cold words were melodic in Inuyasha's head and as he neared home, he couldn't help but whistle. That was right, he had a home—sort of. He had a job. He had a case to work on. He had a beautiful woman's cell phone number. He obviously wasn't impressed by the cold façade Kikyo had on. If anything, he was just happy to be back to doing something productive in his life. How he had missed Tokyo! Even Sesshomaru had been less a bastard than he usually was. Life was indeed beautiful.

Inuyasha parked his car in front of the real-estate agency he had previously called as he remembered he had a bill to pay—home could wait a little while, eh—and got out of his car, still whistling an unknown tune. He had come to pay for the illustrious services the agency had offered him (also known as finding him a room to rent… in a shrine). The onyx-haired man exited his car and almost simultaneously…

"Boom chicka wah wah!"

As he heard _the_ four little magic words, Inuyasha rolled his hips before turning around. Ha! He knew it.

Standing in front of the agency was a tanned man with striking blue eyes, his hair pulled back in a long braid. He was flashing Inuyasha his infamous Hollywood smile and was also obviously making fun of the lawyer's worn-out car.

"Your tires aren't gonna make it, Taisho son of a bitch!"

With a smirk, Inuyasha replied, "Watch what you say about my mother, you asshole with stinking armpits."

When he finally neared the entrance of the agency, Inuyasha and the Hollywood guy shared a strong handshake, patting each other's shoulders.

"It's good to see you're back in Tokyo. I was starting to think you got killed in that rat's hole of yours in Osaka."

Inuyasha scoffed. "Yeah, sorry about having gone MIA for a while… But what are you doing here?"

The blue-eyed man smirked and pointed at the agency behind him. "Jakotsu told me and I just _had_ to come and see for myself. I mean, _you_ living at the Higurashi Shrine, also known as the Sunset Shrine? Come on!"

The lawyer frowned. He had trouble piecing everything together. "What? You mean that Jakotsu in there," he pointed the agency building, "is _your_ Jakotsu?" He shook his head. "That means this Kusao real-estate agency is actually…?"

"Do you know any other Kusao? I told you I'd have my own agency one day and here I am; Bankotsu Kusao is twenty-eight, rich and still on the market!"

"With a gay cousin."

"With a gay cousin, hell yeah!"

Although the whole situation came out as a joke, Inuyasha felt like he needed to vomit. Why did he have to meet Bankotsu, of all things? Scratch that, he was extremely happy to have met Bankotsu after years of numerous phone calls and zero outings. Bankotsu Kusao had been his best friend from high school until college graduation; there wasn't anything they hadn't done together. Inuyasha was glad his friend had his dreams become true—Bankotsu owned a real-estate agency, for God's sake!—but it also reminded him of the failure he actually was. _Damn it, the day had been perfect until now…_

"… Sunset Shrine?" The blue-eyed man waited for an answer.

_Shit! What did he say? _"Come again?"

"I said, what in the seven hells were you thinking when you asked for a room at the Sunset Shrine?" Bankotsu repeated. "I mean you could have called me—see, there's this thing we name a cell phone—or hell, I don't know, but the Sunset Shrine is definitely not a place for you."

Inuyasha's jaw twitched. "Why?" _Is that some sort of innuendo or…?_

"That house is cramped, man!" Bankotsu exclaimed. "There's barely room for three people and they're like ten! Not to mention that the Higurashi family is beyond weird. Everyone knows that in the area."

Now, Inuyasha didn't want to get angry, but Bankotsu wasn't making it easy. The Higurashi family had been nothing but nice to him and yes, maybe they were slightly weird but… "What do you mean?"

His friend arched an eyebrow. "You didn't notice? The shrine keeper is totally insane, the boys are nothing but little pests, the schoolgirl is always scowling and then, there's this lazy ass living with them. That guy—I don't even know his name—is most likely of our age and yet, he still lives there. I'm sure he doesn't even have a job."

Inuyasha's jaw nearly dropped. Well, he'd rather not become rich at all if that meant bad-mouthing people behind their backs all the time… Still, this was Bankotsu; perhaps he was just not used to his antics anymore. Anyhow, some things needed to be cleared. "Listen, the shrine keeper's daughter died a few weeks ago; cut them some slack."

Shaking his head and sighing, Bankotsu dropped the subject. "What about you, Yash? What's going on? I always thought of you as the white picket fence type of person."

Inuyasha cleared his throat. "Well… Let's say that my projects have been delayed."

Bankotsu had been right though. He was the white picket fence type of person. He didn't like routine that much—let's even say he loathed it—but a beautiful house with a beautiful wife had always sounded appealing, which was typical for someone who had had a colorful childhood. He had wanted to become a lawyer not only because he had taken Sesshomaru as a model ever since he learned about his father's death—though his half-brother would never know about this unspoken respect Inuyasha had for him—but also to insure himself some stability.

Well, that had obviously not worked.

On the other hand, Bankotsu had always preferred chaotic situations; multiple girlfriends (and boyfriends), unimaginable trips… Inuyasha, somehow, wasn't impressed to see that Bankotsu had made it to the top while he hadn't. His friend had an ability to only value friendship and he always faced the various situations that were presented to him with detachment, while Inuyasha had made an habit of getting in heated arguments in every time he was asked to come at the court.

On his way back at the shrine—once the bill was paid and Bankotsu out of the way, Inuyasha wasn't humming anymore, nor whistling for that matter. He had accepted his old friend's offer to have lunch together on the next Monday, but he was still a bit reluctant. His mood had obviously dropped and nothing was going to make it better.

It was still early in the afternoon and the previous night, Grandfather Higurashi had mentioned something about going grocery-shopping, thus Inuyasha wasn't surprised when he didn't see him sweeping the shrine grounds—shrine keepers did that, didn't they?

_Everyone else must be at school,_ Inuyasha thought as he quietly entered the Higurashi house and removed his shoes.

"Where is Shippo? I'll tell you where he is; I dropped him at Kaede's! And do you know why I did so? Because obviously I can't count on you, Miroku!"

Inuyasha's eyes widened as he heard Kagome shouting at her older cousin somewhere inside the house.

"Come on, Kagome," came Miroku's calm and bored voice, "you _know_ why I told the teacher to look for you. Shippo doesn't want anyone else but you when he's like… _that_."

They definitely were in the kitchen. Inuyasha tried his best not to make his presence known—not that he liked being sneaky, but this situation seemed somewhat delicate and he couldn't just walk in the kitchen and ask what was going on. _Not to mention the girl seems to be pretty pissed._

"Why at Kaede's anyway?"

"Well, it's not like I trust you to take care of him while I'll be at work!"

"At work?"

"Yes, I have a part-time job right after school. Thank you Miroku for always being supportive and for helping me and Grandpa!"

"That's it, Kagome, stop. You're sounding like my mother…"

"Oh, shut up!"

Inuyasha straightened his back as Kagome exited the kitchen, obviously furious. He tried to smile at her, but when she almost passed him without even glancing at him so that she could go upstairs, he gently grabbed her elbow. The raven-haired girl flinched at the touch and bit her lip; she was clearly trying to control her temper, for Inuyasha had done nothing wrong… yet, at least.

"Hey," the dark-haired man softly spoke, "I know you probably don't want to hear this but… Relax."

Kagome glanced up at him and tried her best not to blush. He was standing too close. Breathing heavily, she followed his advice but found it hard to forget that his older cousin was everything but reliable.

"What's wrong?" Inuyasha murmured in a tone that made her want to tell him all the things that bothered her.

"Nothing, uh…" She cleared her throat. Couldn't he just take a step back from her? Rest his back on the wall? He was still too close for her own good. "Shippo had some problems at school and Miroku…" Her voice trailed off. "I had to skip school, take Shippo home then drop him at an old friend's house…" She shook her head. She was rambling, dammit. "And I'm going to be late for work. Excuse me, Mr. Taisho."

Kagome was about to go upstairs when Inuyasha's grip on her arm tightened. _Strange, I hadn't noticed he was still holding me…_

"Kagome," he started, his tone sounding slightly unsure, "I know I'm rather older than you, but I thought we had agreed on forgetting the formalities?" When he saw her nod, he went on, "I… don't know what's going on here, in this family, but if you need someone to just, I don't know, pick Shippo at school or hell, even baby-sit, I…" Inuyasha scratched his jaw. _What the hell am I saying?_ "I mean, you can ask me."

_Reliable…_

Much to his surprise, Kagome smiled a genuine, pure grateful smile that was just… Kagome. It was amazing how comfortable he felt around her when they had only met the previous day, and if he could make her smile by simply rambling, then…

"Thank you, _Inuyasha_."

"You're welcome."

That was when she realized that his thumb was slowly making small circles on her pullover-clad upper arm. It was soothing, but she really, really needed to go to work and… _God, his eyes are beautiful._

Blushing at the thought, Kagome quickly thanked him once again before rushing up the stairs, leaving a confused but smirking Inuyasha.

It was funny to see how his good mood had returned all of sudden.

* * *

**Word counts:** 564; 1,814.

* * *

_Random notes:_ In Japan, when 18, you're not considered as a baby anymore, however, you still have to wait until you're 20 to be fully seen as an adult. I do believe 20 is the official legal age and not 18, for 20 is really considered as the beginning of adulthood.

* * *

_**Acknowledgments**_

**Mika:** I wouldn't say "a lot" of Inuyasha and Kikyo. The pairing will be there, I think you already guessed that, but let's not forget that Kinky-Hoe is a fervent Inuyasha and Kagome shipper! And no, I don't think there's a law that forbid co-workers to date, eh.


	6. Soon Enough

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_"I never think of the future – it comes soon enough." – Albert Einstein._

* * *

_**Soon Enough**_

"You were hitting on her."

A voice he wasn't used to hearing startled Inuyasha out of his thoughts. Kagome had just disappeared upstairs and as he turned around, he came face to face with her older cousin, Miroku. Reminding himself that this dude was the very reason why Kagome was upset, Inuyasha decided to ignore him and headed toward the kitchen. Perhaps there were beers in the fridge…?

"You really _were_ hitting on her."

_Damn it all to hell._ "I _was_," Inuyasha snapped, not even bothering to face Kagome's cousin. "So what? You gonna call the police so they can arrest another bloody pedophile?" He snorted. Pulling the fridge door open, Inuyasha stared at the obvious lack of alcohol. _What a pain in the ass._ Beer wasn't vodka! Why couldn't they buy some…?

"If you're looking for beer, that's not where you'll find some."

Miroku was resting his back on the door frame, scratching his unshaved chin. The baggy eyes, the worn-out clothes, the tendency to yawn every ten seconds—everything about him screamed laziness and tiredness. Judging by the small smile he was wearing on his face, Inuyasha knew that he just wanted to talk to someone who wasn't going to point out how much of a parasite he was.

Sighing, Inuyasha shut the fridge door and smiled back. "Okay. I guess you're the one who is hiding the booze?"

"Damn straight." Miroku grinned madly. "Hey, don't tell Grandpa, though. He'd first throw a fit, then die of an heart-attack."

"How do you even get to buy alcohol?" Inuyasha asked as they reached Miroku's bedroom. Once they entered it, he winced. How could Miroku live permanently in such a room? It reeked of cologne, unwashed sheets, smoke and sex—how could he even bring girls in there?

"Have my ways," Miroku answered, grabbing two small bottles of beer inside an old mini-bar.

The two men in their late twenties soon found themselves sitting on Miroku's bed, their backs resting on the wall. The strong smells didn't even bother Inuyasha anymore. The silence between Miroku and him was nearly comfortable.

"So," Inuyasha began. "What's the story of your life?" he asked while staring at his half-empty bottle.

Miroku shrugged. "I'm a guy… I'm just a guy," he answered, a glint of humor in his eyes.

The want-to-be lawyer snorted. "I had figured out that much, genius," he said, rolling his dark brown eyes.

"If you must know…" Miroku tossed his empty bottle on his pillow. "I've been living here for ten years now."

Inuyasha's dark brows furrowed as he listened carefully.

"And I've only been a drag." Miroku scoffed, scratching his shoulder-length hair. "But Grandpa's kind enough to let me stay."

_Just… Why did he move in here in the first place?_ Inuyasha wondered. Miroku's eyes had darkened; there wasn't a hint of blue anymore. "Why won't you help Kagome then? She's young, you know. She needs help with her brother and the redhead."

"She's young, indeed. That means you're not screwing her," the violet-eyed man pointed out with a friendly smile. "Anyway, I used to help her—who do you think I am? It's just…" He sighed. "You fuck up once, she ain't gonna trust you anymore. That's what happened. She doesn't want my help anymore," Miroku explained bitterly.

_She may not want it, but she clearly needs it._ "Is that so…" Inuyasha muttered.

"What about you? What's the story of your life?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "I—"

"Miroku!" Kagome's voice interrupted him. Judging by all the noise she made, she was going downstairs. As she passed the door of her cousin's bedroom, she went on, "Sango called. Although you don't deserve it," she spat, "she's inviting you to celebrate her birthday. It's next Friday, so…" When Miroku didn't answer, she asked hesitantly, "Have you seen Inuyasha?"

Said Inuyasha was about to tell her he was right there, but Miroku stopped him, grinning childishly.

"Nope. Why?"

"Could you tell him—" For some reason, she paused in mid-sentence. "Never mind." With that, both men heard her walk away.

"You idiot!" Inuyasha hissed, elbowing Miroku, who was laughing his heart out.

"Come on! That was fun… I think she's got it bad, man…"

"Pfft." Inuyasha crossed his arms on his chest. "What about you, you hypocrite? You tell me not to screw her, but who's this Sango chick? If she's Kagome's friend, then why is she inviting _you _to her birthday? You're not exactly social…"

Miroku's laughter suddenly died. "Look, Sango's gonna celebrate her twentieth birthday. And she's a friend, I guess…"

Inuyasha arched an eyebrow. "You guess, huh?"

The violet-eyed man grabbed his pillow and threw it at him. "You're still not screwing my cousin. I've seen her pee in a pot, you pedophile."

_Well, she's not three anymore._ He wished he could say such things out loud. _Whatever. She's attractive, but that doesn't mean I can't keep it in my pants._ "As long as you share the booze…"

* * *

_She sighed softly as his calloused hand tenderly caressed her cheek. It was then that she understood that this man was the man of her life. The love of her life. Before him, she had never thought she could fall in love. She had liked many guys, but love…? And yet, he made it so easy to fall._

"_I love you," he murmured._

"_I love—"_

Her cell phone vibrated and she almost dropped the novel she had been reading. Her heart thumped in her chest. _Could it be…?_ She quickly reached out for the small device, slid it open and… it read 'Mom'.

Kikyo Hikada bit the inside of her cheek. She chose to ignore the call. She could call her mother later. All she wanted to do was to… _Shit. I don't even want to read anymore._

Why didn't he call? Did she sound harsh when she told him to call 'whenever he had to'? Did she actually imply she didn't want him to call? Couldn't he read between the lines? _I knew those cheap magazines were still a waste of money…_

She surely didn't mind working with Inuyasha Taisho. He was tall, handsome _and _a lawyer. Seriously, he was her man. They would be perfect together. Well, maybe he was younger than her. He did look a bit younger… only a bit. But she didn't care; he _had_ to be nearly perfect. She was twenty-nine and she was single. She guessed it was time for her to do something else than just read pathetic novels…

_Then do it, call him yourself! _She often told herself. And it wasn't a bad idea… The only problem was that she didn't have his number. She liked to think that it was because he had forgotten to give it to her.

Kikyo stared at the clock. 9 PM. Maybe she could watch a movie…?

Her cell phone vibrated again and she cursed. _Might as well answer, tell Mom I don't have the time to listen to her go-get-a-boyfriend rambling… _"Yeah?" she answered in a bored tone.

**_"Miss Hikada?"_** a masculine voice asked. **_"It's me, Inuyasha Taisho… We work together, remember?"_** She heard him chuckle.

_Men with a good sense of humor are interesting…_ "Of course I remember," Kikyo answered in her usual cold tone, heart hammering in her chest and thanking God in silence for listening to her prayers.

**_"Well, I'm sorry to bother you… Perhaps it's a bit late to talk about work, but I was just, uh… taking a closer look to this… case we're supposed to be working on…" _**She heard him say as he typed on his computer.

_Or maybe he's actually got a laptop? He must look sexy when he's working…_ "Do you need some help?"

His answer made her night.

**_"Well, are you free tomorrow afternoon?"_**

* * *

**Word counts:** 864; 480.

* * *

_**Acknowledgments**_

**Mika:** Well, my friend, I'm only going to tell you this; you're totally right and believe me, at some point, Kagome is going to snap. As for Miroku? Oh, don't worry… As you can see, he has already met Sango… Anyway! Thank you for your support! If anything, I should be able to bring Jakotsu back in some time!

**Tjam:** Thank you, I'm glad to know that you're enjoying this story so far!


	7. Attention Without Intention

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

___No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_"Flirtation: attention without intention." – Max O'Rell._

* * *

_**Attention Without Intention**_

"So… who is going to be there tomorrow night?" Kagome asked as she and Sango exited an adorable little shop with bags full of small Christmas presents.

Since she lived in a _shinto_ shrine, Kagome wasn't exactly used to celebrate Christmas. It was, for her grandfather and her, a great occasion to have a huge and delicious dinner with old friends and relatives. For Sota and Shippo, it was obviously all about presents. But who could possibly blame them? They were kids after all.

Kagome had been wondering what Christmas would be like that year ever since December began and the streets were decorated. Her mother wouldn't be there. Her mother wouldn't cook any western meal. Her mother wouldn't offer tons of presents to the little ones of the Higurashi family. Every time she was confronted to the memory of her deceased mother, Kagome felt pathetic. It was as if the world were suddenly void of interest and her life utterly dramatic. But she wasn't exactly depressive. She was only grieving.

There was something else though, that had her thinking about Christmas. Inuyasha Taisho had been living with her and her family for over a month and although they weren't what she would call close, they were somewhat friends. The lawyer would either spend his time at work—and once at home he would still be typing on his laptop—or look for a decent apartment, which always ended up being a failure. Life in Tokyo was too expensive and Grandpa always liked to remind Inuyasha how much he enjoyed having him around. _I enjoy it too._ Still, Kagome was a bit disappointed when she noticed that he had grown to look at her the way he would probably look at his little sister—which also reminded her that he had told her he had a half-brother. Would he celebrate Christmas with him? Was he one to celebrate Christmas at all? Was he Christian? Was he a fervent atheist? Kagome sighed. Either way, he was probably going to visit his brother on Christmas.

She once asked him why he had settled for a rented room instead of asking his older brother a small favor. _"I need my space."_ She had immediately laughed at his answer, pointing out the fact that her house was cramped. Inuyasha had simply smiled back and said, _"You're right. But it feels better here. You're a nice person. My brother isn't." _Kagome found it harder and harder not to blush in his presence. She felt so stupid.

"Earth to Kagome?" Sango's irritated voice interrupted her daydreaming. "You've been ignoring me for the past five minutes. And you know I hate people who ask you a question and then don't even bother to listen to the answer."

The raven-haired girl smiled. Her friend was just adorable when she got angry about nothing. "Sorry. Come on, grumpy!" she teased. "What were you saying?"

Sango elbowed her in return. "I'm not grumpy."

Kagome giggled. "Sure thing."

"I was telling you that there's going to be a lot of people from college you actually don't know." Sango paused. "I think over thirty people were invited."

Kagome arched an eyebrow. "You think?" Still teasing, she said, "I didn't know you were _that_ popular…"

"I'm not, stupid!" Sango glared at her playfully. "This is all because of Ayame."

"Ayame? Isn't she your snobbish friend?" Kagome almost snapped. Not that she didn't like the redhead…

"I admit she is a _bit_ snobbish," Sango answered. "But she's a very nice and funny person, trust me."

Kagome didn't seem convinced.

"Anyway," Sango went on, "she had this idea… and invited as many people as possible, saying that when you reach the age of twenty, you should really celebrate and not only go eat at WacDonald's."

_What's her problem with WacDonald's?_ She was so tempted to say it out loud, but that would have been too childish, even for her. "Is this _your_ party or Ayame's?" she asked instead, huffing.

"Kagome…" Sango warned. "I know you don't like her that much and yes, many rich and _snobbish_ friends of hers are going to be there. That doesn't mean you won't have fun. I know Ayame and I know her friends."

Her younger friend was still not convinced.

"Do you want me to invite Hojo or something?" Sango joked.

"Hell no!" Kagome yelled. "Not the wannabe ex-boyfriend!"

The brunette chuckled. "Bring Yuka with you. And wear something nice. For me, okay?"

Kagome gave her a small smile.

"And…" Sango hesitated. There was one question that haunted her, but she didn't want to look desperate. "Is, huh…"

"I don't know," Kagome answered even before her friend uttered the not-so-surprising question. She added with a genuine smile, "Miroku is still thinking about it."

The both of them knew that was a lie.

* * *

Hn. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Kind of.

He had to choose and he had to choose fast. He couldn't waste any more time. He simply couldn't sacrifice every lunch break only to confront an eternal dilemma. Besides, next day would be _the _day. Or perhaps, he should say night. Anyway.

Subject 1 had her long and curly jet-black hair pulled up in a neat bun that intimidated every man who dared to look at her. She always dressed in black and wore aggressive makeup. He didn't know how he still managed to find her… What was it again…? Ah! Sexy. After a quick scan, he nodded. Right. She had legs to die for.

Subject 2 was the exact opposite of Subject 1. Short and straight hair, a tiny body—definitely not tall, large brown eyes that accentuated her child-like features. Maybe she was a bit too young for him. Next to her, he would look older than he actually was. But her smile… He wouldn't mind waking up beside her every morning—oh, how romantic.

Subject 1 or Subject 2? Sexy legs or pearly smile? Strawberries and whipped cream or chocolate ice-cream?

The sudden crash of an empty tray on his table interrupted his thoughts and he winced. Why did those two women have to eat at the nearest cafeteria? Not only did it keep him from having lunch at his favorite restaurant, but it also forced him to see people who had an habit of pestering him…

"Look, this is ridiculous. You're not even staring at your food, Sess. You have no interest in it, so… Can I have your _ramen_?"

He didn't even have to glance at his brother to know that Inuyasha hadn't waited for an answer and was already swallowing down his lunch.

"Strawberries and whipped cream or chocolate ice-cream, Inuyasha?" he asked with a dull voice.

Thinking that Sesshomaru was talking about his upcoming dessert, he answered, shrugging, "Both."

"Idiot," the elder Taisho muttered, glaring at him.

Furrowing his brow, Inuyasha asked, "You talking about women?"

"Hn."

"I'd still say both." When Sesshomaru's glare became more threatening, he quickly added, "Joking! I'm joking." He let out a nervous laugh. "I'd say…"

Sesshomaru waited.

And waited.

And God-damn-it, he didn't have all day.

"Let's say you're invited to a very fancy dinner—just imagine, I know that's never going to happen to you—and it's obvious that every respectable man is going to bring his wife along… Since you're supposed to be a very respectable man as well—again, imagine—you know you should at least attend that dinner with a fake but perfect fiancée. You'd choose Kikyo, right?" Sesshomaru didn't even blink.

But Inuyasha did. "You mean you're actually considering bringing a woman along? You mean you're not gay?" he tried to joke, buying time. He didn't really want to answer such a question. It was true that for nearly a month, Kikyo Hikada and he had gotten closer and that they spent a lot of time together—and it wasn't always for work… A smile suddenly grew on his lips.

"You'd bring Kikyo along, right?" Sesshomaru repeated.

"Yeah," Inuyasha answered. "Definitely." He had just remembered the way she had cutely blushed when he kissed her goodbye two days ago—it had only been a peck, mind you. And yet, the cold woman that she was had actually blushed.

Still, she wasn't as cute as another girl he had been around a lot for the past month when she blushed. For some reason, Kagome Higurashi was lovelier and it wasn't because she was younger. Was it because she seemed pure? Did she ever fake an emotion? Inuyasha didn't think she could.

That morning, he had been staring at the picture-covered wall of the kitchen when she came in and asked him if he liked it. _"I just don't get it,"_ he had answered.

That was when she pointed at the various pictures. First, there was Mama Higurashi holding her sketchbook, for she had always had a passion for art, then there was Kagome's father in his college graduation uniform, his law school diploma frame in hand. _"When I graduate from high school and receive my admission letter from law school, I'll ask Grandpa to take a picture of me and to put it right next to my father's,"_ Kagome had explained with a proud smile. She then pointed at a picture of Shippo's parents, for the little redhead had requested it and then at a picture of Sota playing soccer. Apparently, his biggest dream was to become a professional soccer player, just like every little boy of his age. Inuyasha had wondered why there wasn't a picture of Grandfather Higurashi, but Kagome quickly told him that Grandpa always said, _"Don't put anything yet. Wait until I die, then you can pin my priest hat on that wall."_ And no picture of Miroku. _Hm. Unbelievable,_ Inuyasha thought, sarcastically.

He had been surprised to know that Kagome's father had been a lawyer, but he was even more surprised now that he knew that she wanted to attend law school. When the raven-haired girl had looked at him earlier that day right before he left for work and told him that she really admired him for his profession, Inuyasha had felt like hugging her. But the dark-haired man had also wanted to tell her the truth, to tell her she shouldn't look up at him, for he was worth nothing as a lawyer. Reassuring himself that it was bound to change, Inuyasha didn't hug her and didn't tell her how much of a failure he was. Instead, he thanked her and brushed his knuckles on her cheek.

A loud sigh brought Inuyasha back to the real world. Sesshomaru was back gazing at a nearby table. He followed his stare and understood.

"Let me guess, over there are strawberries-and-whipped-cream and chocolate-ice-cream, right?" Inuyasha teased.

"I'll ask Kagura Kaze."

"Hmm…"

"What are you doing tomorrow night?"

"Dunno. I think I'll hang out with Bankotsu and bring Miroku along… You know, that guy I told you about? The lazy-ass at the shrine? He's actually fun. A dirty pervert, but fun and—hey! Don't try to change the subject!"

"You almost fell for it."

"Admit it, you don't want to bring Kaze. You want her little assistant!"

_Touché_. Sesshomaru sighed. "Do you ever shut up?"

* * *

**Word count:** 831; 1,807.

* * *

_**Acknowledgments**_

**Mika:** Well, even though they kissed once again in that crazy series, at least Kikyo is dead. Like, really, really dead. That's what's good. Anyway, I'm glad you like Kikyo's portrayal! See, angsty love triangle is not that angsty, lol! But sorry to disappoint you, Miroku will act like a total ass for a long time. But that doesn't mean he's actually one ;)


	8. The Cure of Coquetry

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_"The greatest miracle of love is the cure of coquetry." – La Rochefoucauld._

* * *

_**The Cure of Coquetry**_

"Tonight?" he asked, chugging down half of a bottle of water. Some of the liquid trailed down his chin and he quickly wiped it away, cursing. "Of course I'll be there."

**_"_****_Can't wait to throw our man into jail, hmm?"_ **she teased.

He scratched his black mane, chuckling. "Eh, I want to see you as well," he added smoothly.

**_"_****_Later, Inuyasha,"_** she merely responded.

"See you later, Kikyo."

Sighing, the lawyer exited the kitchen. Why did she always have to complicate things? He knew her cold exterior was just an act—didn't she stick her tongue down his throat whenever she had a chance to? She was one to blush! Besides, she wanted to see him. She always pretended it was for work, but it was mainly _his_ case, so there was no need for the prosecutor that she was to butt in incessantly. She was of great help, indeed, but what if she wanted more….

"Watch where you're going, son!" Grandfather Higurashi yelled when they almost collided in the hallway.

"Shit, I'm sorry—"

"And watch your language as well," the old shrine keeper grunted.

Frowning, Inuyasha asked, "Is something wrong?" What was with the mood?

"Bah, no _shogi_ tournament tonight. I've got to stay for the kids; Kaede can't come and Kagome…" he sighed. "Well, it's her friend's birthday and she needs to go out. Besides, I heard you have plans tonight."

Inuyasha smiled at Kagome's grandfather and nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were a _shogi_ player…?"

The shrine keeper scoffed. "I'm one of the best!"

"How could I not notice!"

They laughed, exchanging smiles.

"Well, I'm going for a walk. Oh, and tell Kagome to have great fun. She deserves it."

Inuyasha nodded and went upstairs when Grandfather Higurashi patted his shoulder.

Kagome's bedroom door was ajar. The young girl was way too distracted to even notice someone was standing in the hallway, watching her, paying attention to every single movement that she made.

She was checking herself out in the mirror. She wore a slightly loose, sleeveless black dress. The curves of her body were still there. Perfect.

Her legs were clad in shiny pantyhose and thanks to her heeled boots, she was taller than usual.

Her hair was different too. Still wavy, but shorter. Silk-like. Did she go to the hairdresser's?

Large, bright straps covered her shoulders.

Silver earrings.

Silver bracelets.

Glossy lips.

Lovely.

"Ahem."

Inuyasha jumped and immediately looked down. Big green eyes were staring at him. Shit, had the redhead just caught him drooling over a schoolgirl? Over Kagome?

"What are you doing, Mr. Lawyer?" little Shippo asked innocently. "Why are you standing in front of Kagome's door?" he added with a smile. "Why are you? Why are you standing in silence?" he insisted.

"Shh!" Inuyasha panicked. Five-year old boys are cute, but why aren't they able to keep it shut?

The dark-haired man was about to run downstairs, dragging Shippo along, but Kagome exited her room and spotted them. The redhead was asking incoherent questions to the grown-up man who wore a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Guys?"

Inuyasha froze, swallowing hard. "Kagome," he greeted, avoiding her gaze.

"What's going on? I could hear you even with the radio on." The girl gave him a questioning look.

Inuyasha opened his mouth to answer, but Shippo was faster. "Mr. Lawyer has been standing in front of your door."

Kagome gasped. "What?"

_Shit, shit, shit!_ "Your grandfather is out," he blurted. He watched as she crossed her arms, arching an eyebrow. "He wants you to have fun tonight." Did he even make sense?

A soft smile adorned her features and he felt relieved. At least, she wouldn't think he had been sneaking up on her, checking her out and drooling over her. _You're sick,_ his conscience told him for the umpteenth time.

"Okay," was her quiet response.

"Besides, you look great." _Here, you're doing it again,_ his conscience chimed in, again.

Kagome looked away. She was embarrassed, he could tell.

"You're beautiful," Inuyasha added softly.

"You are!" Shippo nodded.

With a grin, she muttered a "thank you" and went downstairs, blushing.

She was beautiful.

Kagome grabbed the phone and dialed Sango's number. She had to tell her that she was ready. Oh, and she had to call Yuka as well.

She was beautiful.

Not to mention that she had to leave a note so that Miroku would know what to eat when he got home.

Kagome sighed, lying down on the couch in the living room.

She was beautiful.

* * *

**Word count:** 758.

* * *

_**Acknowledgments**_

_Special thanks to **la623**, **kagome2 a.k.a me**, **einehexe**, **Mika**, **Say0mi Saki**, **vampire-fetish15**, **The Dreaming Soul**, **WitchyGirl99**, **WindMiko**, **Anne79**, **MalachiteFlames**, **xxPunkRockBeautyQueenxx**, **xXKimiko SakakiXx** and **Saholia**. I promise I'll answer your reviews next time._

* * *

**A/N:** I have gone MIA for over three months and here I come back with only a short drabble? I know, I totally suck. Wanna hear something funny? I'm applying for Law school. Who would have thought.


	9. No man does right…

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_"No man does right by a woman at a party." – Harry Golden._

_

* * *

_

_**No man does right…**_

Fuck.

And to think that it was a fucking _female_ that got him into that fucking predicament. He was definitely done with spoiled brats. What a fucking slut…

He had done the impossible for her. Whatever it was that she needed, he gave it to her. He was patient, generous, not to say gorgeous… and now that _he _was the one covered in shit, she was nowhere to be seen! Not that he needed her help anyway. He was a grown-up man, a very irresponsible grown-up man…

And he was being scolded by his younger brother.

_**"**__**Can't you just listen to me for once? I'm telling you that everything has been settled—"**_

"No," he cut abruptly, "what you're saying is that I'm in for a _trial_. A fucking trial, Hakkaku! And you call that settling things?"

A loud sigh and then, _**"Yes, I do. I'm just trying to help you—hell, everyone is. Dad doesn't know about this—yet—and he doesn't have to. Hopefully we can find a way to get you out of this mess."**_ Hakkaku's voice was soft, almost desperate, but he also sounded annoyed.

"… I know that. Just… I'll call you later, yeah?"

**_"_**_**Wait—"**_

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

There was no way Hakkaku would make him feel guilty.

Cobalt eyes scanned the living room that was all too familiar to him. What the hell, seriously? He knew that some chick was celebrating her twentieth birthday, but this wasn't even her house to begin with! What was with people these days, pissing him off non-stop?

The young adult that he was poured himself some punch. He snorted. _Punch. How old are we? Fourteen?_ He took a deep breath, trying to mentally soothe his nerves. He had come to have some fun. Now, if only Hakkaku hadn't called…

"Excuse me?" a feminine voice interrupted his murderous thoughts. "Could you hand me the ladle?"

He blinked once.

Twice.

A ladle? What ladle? There was a cute little thing standing right in front of him, wearing black and silver and a pair of heeled boots, and she was asking him to _hand her the ladle_? And what was that, pantyhose? Or maybe they were garters…?

"Hello?"

He saw her as she waved her hand before his eyes to get his attention—as if he were looking at _anything_ else but her—and that was when he finally took a better look at her heart-shaped face. Raven hair, wavy. Sexy. Chocolate eyes. Lovely.

Delicious.

"Hi," was his smooth reply. Instead of handing her the punch ladle, he offered his own drink. She eyed it suspiciously, but took it anyway.

Not that she really considered drinking it.

"Well, aren't you a bit slow," she murmured.

He raised an eyebrow, a smirk curving up his lips. "I'm sorry, my mind was elsewhere. I'm all yours now."

She scoffed, but she also seemed amused. "Nice comeback."

"It wasn't exactly what you would call a… comeback." He grinned, absentmindedly running his fingers through his ponytail. "You studying at Tokyo U?"

She cleared her throat, frowning a bit. "No. I'm not attending college… yet." She smiled. "You?"

"Oh, uh…" She was that younger then? "I am. Economics, third year." How old was she exactly? What was she doing here?

"Interesting." As if sensing his sudden discomfort, she added, "I'll be attending Todai next year, if everything goes fine."

"What field?" Shit, did he just sound _that_ relieved? Hanging out with minors when he was in for a trial? Bad idea, very bad idea…

"Law."

…

What was that, karma? As if it would stop him from getting what he wanted. Flashing his heart-stopping smile, he asked, "You got a name?" _No pet names… for now._

"Kagome. You?"

"Koga. Koga Matsuno."

"It's nice to meet you."

He nodded. _Nice smile._

* * *

Were they ever going to shut—_stop talking_?

Sesshomaru was not pleased. He was careful not to let it show, but with his lack of conversation, he gave himself away. However, he did not understand why his presence had been requested in the first place. This was not Taisho &Co. or Taisho and Friends—this was only dinner with a bunch of old business man and associates who had come with their wives to discuss politics.

Sesshomaru snorted. The old hags were discussing _fashion_.

He was not one of them—he was thirty-six, not fifty-five! And he was not married. Sure, he had brought "Strawberries And Whipped Cream" along, but she barely acknowledged him. Kagura Kaze had made it clear that she had accepted his _invitation_ only because she _pitied_ him. What a load of…. _Deep breath._ This Sesshomaru needed no one.

He should have asked "Chocolate Ice Cream" out instead, but then people would have looked at him as if he were a pedophile. Kaze's assistant had to be twenty, maybe twenty-three. Not to mention that she would have felt out of place; old hags, old men, politics? Your dream date, of course.

Sesshomaru Taisho was dialing a cursed number when Kagura Kaze muttered, "I'm going home."

"Go."

"I really am."

No answer.

"Taisho, I'm supposed to be your fiancée!"

"My fiancée would never leave."

_Beep. Beep. Be—_ _**"Hello?"**_ Haggard breaths, a thud. Murmurs and a feminine voice.

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow. _At least he answered his phone._ "I guess this is Spring cleaning."

**_"_**_**Spring what?"**_ A gasp. _**"It's not even Christmas!"**_

He snorted. "I'm glad you remember."

**_"_**_**What the fuck do you want?"**_

"Let me see—"

**_"_**_**Hah, drop it already, asshole. I'm not coming to the Intercontinental to save your ass."**_

_Save my… _What was it with people claiming he needed their help? Although it was tempting to tell everyone to just _go to hell_, Sesshomaru remained quite composed. "I suppose whatever it is that you are doing is totally acceptable in a shrine. Remind me where you live? The Sunset _Shrine_?"

**_"… You—"_**

"You have ten minutes, Inuyasha."

**_"I—"_**

"Bring her along."

No objections.

With no small amount of satisfaction, Sesshomaru stood up, excusing himself and pretending that his _fiancée_ did not feel very well. They all seemed to understand and one of the old hags even rubbed Kaze's arm. Poor child, she said.

And they left.

* * *

**Word counts:** 629; 397.

* * *

_**Acknowledgments**_

**Mika:** _"Darn!"_ for a Kikyo and Inuyasha kiss? My, I must have killed you with this update. And nope, no test for Law school—thank God, I think I've had enough of those! Geneva Law School accepted me, I just have to make sure I get my high school diploma and graduate at the top of my class. Bleh…

**Ruthe-La:** I'll always try to find some time for my stories. Who cares if I go to college? I have no life! Thank you for _lufing_ me, dear. I _luf_ you too!

* * *

**A/N:** Right now, I have thirty Trojans infecting my computer and I'm leaving tomorrow for New York. I'm sorry for my lack of updates as always, but I'm currently on Spring break and I really need to get away from France for a bit. I'll be back. Hopefully with a new computer…


	10. The Crutch

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_"Jealousy is a crutch." – C. Astrid Weber._

_**

* * *

**_

_**The Crutch**_

Over, it was fucking over. He was not his yes-man, goddammit! It was time his manipulative, sadistic, obnoxious brother—_half-brother—_learned that. He had been against the whole idea from the very beginning! Then, of course, he had decided to play nice (although he had to admit that the blackmail part had been _slightly_ persuasive…), and went to that crazy dinner party… Only to be looked down upon.

He had been spending the evening making out in the garage of the Sunset Shrine with a woman he liked _that_ much and then, the fucker called, acting like he ruled the fucking world! Well, fuck him, because he was never going to help him again. Ever.

If 'help' was the right word to use to describe what happened.

One thing was crystal clear though; Sesshomaru Taisho's humor was retarded.

"Come on Inuyasha, it's not that bad, you know…" the dark-haired female beside him whispered, placing a hand on his thigh as he drove home.

"_Not bad_? Were you actually there when they rolled their eyes at us—I mean, rolled their eyes at _me_, since to offend one of the most successful prosecutors of the city is not in their plans," he retorted.

She sighed and he suddenly felt bad.

"Kikyo," he murmured. "Sorry. They just… reminded me that I'm still worth nothing as a lawyer—_court-appointed_ or not."

She gave him a soft smile and reassured him that it was okay. She could understand. But it was bound to change! She had faith in him. What they had was a winning case, that she was certain of.

He offered to give her a ride home and she accepted but as they neared the Sunset Shrine, Inuyasha slowed the car down.

An unknown car was parked in front of the shrine steps.

"Inuyasha?" Kikyo softly called, sending him a questioning look.

He got out of his old and damaged car in silence, eying the the passengers of the Porsche in front of him. Then, a very tipsy teenager exited the expensive car.

"…Sango! Tell Sango that I'm not having a sleep… a sleepover? A sleepover!" She burst out laughing and the driver of the vehicle got out of his car as well.

"I'll tell her alright." He smiled and came closer to the girl, her wavy tresses cascading over her shoulders. "You should go to sleep now. And be quiet. You don't want to wake up your grandfather, do you, Kagome?"

Inuyasha frowned. Who was this guy? He was clearly older than her! And why was she piss drunk? What had he done? If he even considered taking advantage of her current state of… No, it was time someone stepped in and—

"Inuyasha?" Kikyo called again. "Do you know these people?"

"She is, uh… She's the granddaughter of the shrine keeper. I just want to make sure she alright," he half-lied. The black-haired man was about to intervene when he noticed something that made his stomach churn.

Kagome was kissing the prick.

Okay, so it was a very _small_ kiss. A goodnight kiss. _But a kiss nonetheless._ And how old was that guy, anyway? _Old fuck._

Not that he was anyone to talk.

Clearing his throat, he was more than ready to interrupt their lovey-dovey-lovely-cutey kiss, when the world spun faster and he could only watch.

Mr. Old Fuck was already starting his car and Kagome blew a kiss at him.

"What the—"

"Oh, Inuyasha!" the teenager exclaimed, half-hugging him. "You already here? Know what? I had _so_ much fun. Sango should celebrate her twentieth birthday more often," she blabbed.

Inuyasha placed his hands on her sides to steady her, completely taken aback by her drunken state. She usually kept a straight face, was always so responsible, so… adult-like. But then, he had to remember. Kagome Higurashi was seventeen.

"Inuyasha!" he heard Kikyo call, _again_.

He was twenty-seven. He was the old fuck.

"She's drunk," he told his co-worker, never turning to face her. "I'm going to help her climb the steps and then I'll drive you home."

"Who are you calling drunk!" Kagome scoffed. "Hey!" she shouted as she noticed the woman sitting in Inuyasha's car. "Who is she? Your girlfriend?" She giggled. "Never thought you had one. I'm kinda disappointed. She's very pretty…" Kagome's voice trailed off as Inuyasha carried her up the shrine steps, then up the stairs of the house.

He made sure they didn't wake up anybody despite Kagome's constant ramble. She was really something, but Inuyasha was still learning the many traits of a drunken Kagome. She was typical in every way, every word she spoke, but he wasn't annoyed. On the contrary, he was quite amazed. Kagome was smiling and giggling and laughing and Inuyasha wished she was sober; he wished she would laugh with him one day, rather than _at _him…

"Who was that boy, Kagome?" he asked softly as he tucked her into bed.

"Oh, you mean Koga?" She yawned.

_Koga?_ Yeah. He definitely looked like a Koga. _Bastard._

"I met him at Sango's. He's really… nice… cute…"

Inuyasha snorted. "Yeah, nice. Kagome, I…" He started whispering. "I think you should see people of your age… Wait, no. You shouldn't see any guy. I mean; that Koga must be in college, and you, I mean, I—"

_Snore._

…_Yeah, right._ Inuyasha sighed, his charcoal eyes scanning her figure as she slept peacefully, just like a baby. Except for the not-so-soft snoring part.

His lips curved up into a smile and slowly realized how stupid he was. Thankfully, she had been drunk. She would be eighteen very soon and she had the right to see and date whoever she wanted, college students included. He seriously had to just _stop_. She had seen his somewhat girlfriend and not made a fuss about it, right? Despite her being drunk, she hadn't seemed to mind his possible relationship with Kikyo—_That's right! Kikyo! _

_Shit!_

* * *

"Remind me why we're here again?"

She rolled her eyes. Man, what a pain! Did he always had to be so annoying? _That self-centered…_ Self-centered what? Prick? No, she liked him too much to actually insult him. She was better than that.

_Male. Self-centered male!_

Right.

"These books all look so boring! Seriously, Kikyo. You can't expect me to spend the whole day in this fucking bookstore!" her co-worker whined childishly.

The woman in her late twenties smiled, trying to hide the nervous state she was in. "I told you," she replied, "we're here to buy one of these novels—yes, I _know_, they're all 'mushy and disgusting' but it's for my mother!" She heard him as he snorted. "What!" She threw her hands in the air. "Don't tell me you actually never buy Christmas presents? You _are _aware that it's coming next week, are you _not_?"

"Of course I know! But it's not like I have any parents left to celebrate and I'm definitely not seeing that bastard of Sesshomaru until next year!" Inuyasha retorted, crossing his arms on his chest and forgetting that New Year would be in approximately three weeks.

Kikyo fell silent. She had no idea…

No. Her heart had to stop beating _that_ fast. This was the part when she realized she actually loved the rude and obnoxious guys standing in front of her; the part when she threw herself at him! And she didn't want that! She was everything _but_ romantic! Oh, and to think she actually lied to him…! The novel wasn't for her mother, but for her!

_Embarrassing, this is just _so _embarrassing,_ she thought, worrying her lower lip.

"Kikyo, look, I'm sor—"

"Inuyasha," she cut in. "I think…"

Dark eyebrows raised. "Yes?"

_No, I can't do this._ Grabbing a random book, she declared, "Nothing. Let's just get out of here."

Too lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice Inuyasha's shrug. He had been acting as if he were in a hurry all day and she guessed it was because they still had a lot of research and paperwork to do regarding his case, thus she could understand that he was a bit stressed out, if not a lot… She still insisted that he walked her home and he complied with her request, starting to think they were official since she constantly asked for his help and presence.

Which was unusual and unexpected since he always thought she was frigid and tight-assed.

But once they stood in the entryway of her house, Kikyo Hikada decided it was time to gather her courage.

"Listen, I have to go, I promised Kag—the Higurashi family that I'd help them with the kids and the decorations 'cause even though it's a Western tradition it was one of their Mama's favorite—"

Kikyo raised her hand and silenced his rambling with a small smile. "Inuyasha." She took his hands in hers. "We have been… getting to know each other in many different ways lately, yeah?"

"… Yeah." He gulped as she removed the pins that held her hair up.

"I really like you," she confessed. "I think I might even…" _No. I shouldn't say this now._ She shook her head and Inuyasha thought she did it to appear seductive, her long and straight hair covering her figure. "I want you all over me," she murmured, this time really _trying_ to appear seductive. "I want you. Do you?"

Inuyasha couldn't believe it, couldn't believe his eyes, his ears, everything that was actually happening!

_Please say yes. Please say yes. No, say no. Say yes! Come on! I-I love you! _"Do you?" she repeated, her face flushed.

"Kikyo, I…" _The shrine Inuyasha. They need you there, _his conscience chimed in. _Kagome and Shippo need you…_

"… Yes?"

"I do."

* * *

**Word counts:** 983; 627.

* * *

_**Acknowledgments**_

**Mika:** Ah-ha! So? What were you thinking they were doing? I had a lot of fun in New York, thanks! If the previous chapter had you pulling at your hair, then what about his one? Hehe.

**riya:** Well… here we are! Thank you for reading.

**whoobonhooaglo:** Hello, my newest reader! My computer seems to be just fine now, thank you, and my Spring break was actually awesome. I live right on the border of France/Switzerland and hopefully I'll be in Geneva next year. (France does suck a little bit.)

* * *

**A/N:** Confused? Good. Mad? Very good. Stay that way and the following chapter will be a pushover….


	11. And Yet, I Feel

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_**And Yet, I Feel***_

11:56 pm.

Huff.

Kagome glared at the microwave digital clock. To say that she was mad would have been an understatement. She was furious. For over a hundred reasons.

She was far from being stupid and she wasn't exactly naïve neither. She didn't believe that much in promises, let alone in pretty words. And she was almost an adult too, so there was no need to lie to her, aside from the fact that she didn't deserve it. Not to mention Shippo. To tell little kids a bunch of lies in a perfect row should be forbidden. Why disappoint them? All they asked for—all Shippo had asked for was a bedtime story. He had wanted Inuyasha to read to him.

"_I'll__ be back in an hour _my ass," Kagome muttered, tapping her foot against the table. She wasn't mad because of the whole bedtime story thing. But it was too much; the day had been so damn exhausting. All the cleaning, the Christmas decorations and the invitations, the hours spent calling her irresponsible cousin Miroku who was supposed to help them… Inuyasha had told her a million times that he would be there to take care of Sota and Shippo since her little brother hated Christmas with a passion and her mother's godson simply wasn't fond of the let's-decorate-the-whole-house idea. The redhead wanted to play a lot of different games and to see the snow-covered central park of Tokyo.

And so to _hell_ with everybody. Kagome hadn't wanted to do as her grandfather suggested—to go and call Kaede when they both ended up alone. They bothered her enough, in her opinion. Not only that, but the woman was also too much into gossips. She asked too many questions and back-stabbed Miroku too often. And she pitied the children constantly… No, Kaede would have been helpful, indeed, but even more exhausting than the busy day itself.

Kagome rubbed her face, deciding that it was definitely time for her to go to bed. She had to go to work the following day and now that Shippo was asleep, there was no need to stay awake. There was no need to wait for Inuyasha.

The seventeen-year old quietly went upstairs, yawning and cursing Miroku who was without a doubt still partying and Inuyasha, who could have at least called to tell her that the few 'errands' he had to run would take a _very_ long time.

Deep inside, Kagome knew she was mentally taking out her anger on him just because she was tired and unsure about whose fault it was, if there was actually someone to blame.

When she reached her mother's old bedroom, she stilled. Hesitating, Kagome opened the door and went inside, slowly turning the lights on. The bed wasn't made, which was unusual. Clearly, the difference between Inuyasha, the absent-minded lawyer, and her mother, the neatly neat housewife, could be seen without any additional effort. Yes, her mother wasn't coming back. Ever. Sighing, Kagome was about to turn the lights off when she noticed a book—no, a red agenda—poking out from under the bed.

She bit her lower lip. She shouldn't be doing this.

Putting aside the fact that the soft and feminine scent in her mother's room had been completely replaced by a masculine and enticing one, Kagome sat down on the bed and picked up what really was a diary. And she wasn't sure it actually belonged to Inuyasha.

It was filled with poems and pictures and letters—love letters. The diary belonged to a woman. _A woman with an amazing handwriting, _Kagome thought as she turned the pages and read the letters. None of them was for Inuyasha. _02-17-1985…_ She chuckled. _A love letter to a three-year old? You can be really stupid, Kagome._

The teenager frowned. Wow. Some letters were really… _descriptive_. And definitely _private_.

Kagome shook her head, hating herself. She really shouldn't be doing this.

She was ready to put away the mysterious diary and the romantic letters that seemed to have never been sent to some Toga guy when she found a picture that bookmarked one of the many poems. The picture of a mother breastfeeding her baby.

"05-03-1982…" Kagome murmured, reading aloud. "*One step away from what is possible, one step away from you…" She gulped. "I'm scared of making a decision, scared of myself." _What could have she been talking about?_ "Of all the things I don't know, of all the things I lack of… And yet, I feel," she read on, sometimes mouthing the lyrics and sometimes speaking the words a saddened woman had once written down. "…in the days of silence, there is a sense of you."

Kagome closed the diary and put it back where she found it. She had totally forgotten about how mad she felt earlier and was now intrigued. Why did Inuyasha keep such a heartbreaking diary? Had he known that woman? Perhaps something bad had happened to her…

Only then did she realize that maybe—just _maybe_—Inuyasha hadn't called because something bad actually happened to _him_.

She suddenly heard someone open the front door and the sound of keys jingling. _Apparently it didn__'__t._

Kagome hurried herself out of the bedroom. She had rarely been in there ever since it became Inuyasha's room and was no longer her deceased mother's. There was absolutely no reason for her to be sitting on his bed.

She slowly came down the stairs, watching the want-to-be lawyer who had just removed his coat. Chocolate orbs met his dark-colored eyes and she let out a small sigh. "I was worried," she half-lied. "Miroku hasn't come back yet and you… Well…"

Inuyasha acknowledged her with a tired smile. "I know. I usually call or get home early. I'm really sorry, Kagome." He yawned. "You shouldn't have stayed up for me."

The young girl frowned, wondering why that stupidly stupid smile wouldn't leave his freaking face. "I didn't," she snapped, her anger coming back in full force. If he didn't seem surprised, at least the smile wasn't there anymore.

"Kagome, what's wrong?" he whispered, afraid that they would wake up Grandpa Higurashi. He hadn't planned on dealing with him until the morning after! "You mad or something?"

She scoffed. He couldn't possibly be serious… "No, I'm not!" she spat again. "I'm just so tired, I can't even sleep!"

Inuyasha closed his mouth. What was he supposed to answer? He raised an eyebrow before Kagome called him a liar. He really hoped all she was doing was to take her frustration out on him. The day had been so perfect, he didn't want it to end badly and to have the kid hate him just because he didn't take the redhead to the park and help her _decorating a tree_…

_When did I finally start thinking of her as a kid?_

"Look", he sighed. "I'm not a liar. Something came up, okay?" Something in her eyes told him she wasn't convinced; she wasn't even looking at him in the eye anymore. "A friend of mine wasn't feeling well and I, uh… offered to spend the day with him," he _lied_.

"Do you like girls, Inuyasha?" the raven-haired teenager asked quietly, her disappointed smile speaking volumes on how much she didn't believe him.

He blinked. "Uh, yeah?"

"Then you _are_ a liar," she said, looking into his dark brown eyes. "You have a love bite on your neck. Either you are gay or you were with a hooker." Kagome missed the way Inuyasha stiffened as she shook her head and looked away. "I don't care what you do. Just don't tell me you're going to help me when I'm busy, or tired, or whatever, if you actually have more important things to do, more important people to see." The last part was a tad ironic but it hardly mattered if she was being annoying or not. She was tired and upset and disappointed, and—_Enough._ "Goodnight." She turned on her heel, rubbing her eyes. And to think that she was supposed to wake up in a few hours in order to go to work….

"I know I should have called," Inuyasha stated. "I told you that I am sorry and I repeat it, _I am sorry._ But I wasn't with some hooker, Kagome. You have to grow up, I…" She heard him as he sighed heavily. "I was with my girlfriend."

A slap in her face would have hurt less.

_I have to grow up?_

How could she have been so dumb? Why crush on a damned adult when she was still a schoolgirl? Why? And why was she taking the whole thing so seriously? She even had trouble swallowing the lump in her throat…!

"Ah…" she whispered. Taking a deep breath, she turned around to smile at him, this time without sending him any dark look. "It's my fault, Inuyasha. You are our tenant," she breathed out. "You are supposed to be just that. I mistook your politeness for something else."

Flabbergasted, Inuyasha watched her as she went to her room in silence. What just happened was so… unexpected. Unusual. Disturbing. Her anger, her frustration, the bitter tone she used—it was too adult-like. She needed a break or else she would snap at him again sometime in the future. But what to do?

The dark haired man felt his cell phone vibrate in his back pocket. Oh, it was Kikyo.

Inuyasha grinned a stupidly stupid grin. He had so wanted her. And he had had her. That sexy prosecutor he worked with.

_'The whole bed smells of you and your sweat._

_Love it._

_xx'_

He would answer that later. For now, he had think of something in order to help Kagome. A seventeen-year old should be carefree.

What could possibly please her?

An outing? _Blah._

Extra help with cleaning? _How could I afford that?_

A date? _To hell with that Koga of hers._

As he removed his shoes, Inuyasha's stomach growled. Ha-ha! There. He had it.

* * *

**Word count:** 1,658.

* * *

_*Title and lyrics taken from Elisa's song, _Eppure Sentire_ (2006)._

* * *

_**Acknowledgments**_

_The biggest thank you goes to these extremely supportive and very patient people: **ShouraiChan**, **Thayet**, **WitchyGirl99**, **Saholia**, **Say0mi Saki**, **riya**, **xXKimiko SakakiXx**, **Mika**, **The Dreaming Soul**, **whoobonhooaglo**, **Nyony's Echo**, **arizonasiren**, **WITCHBLADE86** and **SailorKagome**._

* * *

**A/N:** I'm passing out. Sorry. No review replies. No lame explanation as to why it took so long for me to update. Next is **Flower Delivery**.


	12. The Smallest Act

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention." – Oscar Wilde._

* * *

_**The Smallest Act**_

Shippo knew something was off the moment he felt a large hand pressed against his mouth and realized it was still dark outside.

Kidnapped. He was being kidnapped!

"Ah—whhh!" Darkened green eyes nervously glanced around. Where was Sota?

"Shh," the abductor commanded. "Just wake up without making unnecessary additional noise."

And then, _wham_. He turned the lights on.

The small kid jaw dropped cutely. "Mr. Lawyer!"

The grown-up man rolled his eyes at the nickname. _Yeah, if only._

"You scared me to death," Shippo grinned. "What are you doing? What are we doing?" he asked with enthusiasm, as if they were about to play an entertaining game.

"Listen." Inuyasha sat on the tiny bed, rubbing his hands together. "I am going to see what Miroku is doing and I need you to wake up Sota. In _silence_," he added.

The redhead nodded. "Yes. Yes." Then, after a minute, "But, why?"

It was Inuyasha's turn to grin. "You guys get ready and come downstairs. Golden rule: Our Kagome stays asleep."

* * *

The delicious smell of traditional breakfast reached her nostrils and Kagome Higurashi stirred happily. She wanted rice, _miso_ soup… and why not add some coffee and French toast. That wasn't exactly Japanese, but it vaguely reminded her of someone.

The sudden feeling of bitterness caused her to open her eyes and she was surprised to see that the sun had already risen.

"Seven thirty in the morning, it's seven thirty in the morning! Wake up, Sunflower. Wake up," sang the very old but still cute alarm clock her father had once offered her. She panicked. Seven thirty? But she was certain she had set the alarm for six o'clock! School started in an hour, how would ever be able to shower, get Shippo and her little brother dressed, prepare breakfast….

Kagome jumped to her feet, scratching her raven mane. She was dead.

That was when she noticed the intriguing paper arrows placed on the floor. Raising a dark eyebrow, the chocolate-eyed girl followed the directions she was given. First, an arrow was pointing at her dresser. Well, clothes? Then, another arrow pointed at the door. Exit bedroom. Easy.

The third arrow pointed at the bathroom. Kagome could hear the water run. Wait, what if someone was already in there? She knocked on the door and when she received no response, she entered. The sweet scent of vanilla soap assaulted her senses. On the mirror, a note, a drawing and scotch tape.

_'Well-deserved rest. Enjoy._

_Miroku, Sota and Shippo (the drawing is my!).'_

The seventeen-year old burst out laughing. How the boys had managed to wake up by themselves was beyond her but the biggest surprise was Miroku's concern and gratitude.

Well, she didn't have much time, she still had to go to school so she'd better enjoy the long bath!

Twenty minutes of paradise later and all of Kagome's worries had been washed away. She was still in a rush, albeit unintentionally. There was no way she was being late for school. That day was an important day; both the homeroom teacher and the guidance counselor would be there to talk about universities, final exams and entrance exams. Mid-December would soon become late January and things would go a little faster. _Then high school will be over._

Kagome went downstairs with a smile on her heart-shaped face. It all felt as if her mother was still alive… except for the fact that she didn't bathe with essential oils every morning.

"Where's grandpa?" she asked Sota, who was in the middle of a corn flake battle with Shippo, as she entered the kitchen.

"Still sleeping," a masculine voice that was definitely not her brother's answered. "How are you today?"

The teenage girl slowly turned around, huffing, only to meet her tenant's most sheepish smile. She had to admit it was contagious, especially since he was wearing her piggy-patterned apron. It was definitely too small for the tall man that he was, but it suited him oh-so-well.

When he placed a bowl of _miso_ soup right in front of her, Kagome understood that her early morning routine had been pleasantly destroyed by him and only him.

"Very fine, I guess," she answered, her hands cupping the bowl and getting warm. "I think something went wrong with my alarm clock."

The lawyer offered her a smirk. "Oh, really?"

"Really. But Sleeping Beauty has nothing on me, I slept like a baby. Thank you, Inuyasha." Kagome placed her hand on his forearm.

Nearly embarrassed, the brown-eyed young man quickly stepped back. "Don't thank me. I had to make it up to you," he laughed.

Slightly disappointed, Kagome looked away.

"You still owe me a bedtime story," Shippo chimed in, dodging a corn flake missile.

"Damn right I do," Inuyasha countered, immediately siding with Sota as the corn flake war came to an end.

"Pfft! You loser!" the youngest Higurashi teased. "Shippo sucks ass!" Quickly grabbing his coat and gloves, Sota ran outside, chased by an upset, red-haired boy.

"What's with the language," grumbled Grandfather Higurashi as he slowly made his way into the kitchen, where Kagome and Inuyasha were already clearing off the table. "Good morning," he greeted, yawning. "Where's Miroku?" he mumbled.

"Morning," they said in unison. Kagome quickly kissed her grandfather on the cheek. "I have to go, I'm going to be late."

"Not a chance," Inuyasha reacted. "I'm giving you a ride."

"You are what?" both Kagome and her grandfather exclaimed. The old shrine keeper carefully eyed the young tenant as he and his granddaughter exited the kitchen.

Inuyasha grabbed his coat, then held Kagome's in order to help her slip into it. "I'm telling you, I'm just trying to make it up. You were tired last night," he said quietly. Once she was done, he adjusted her hair so that it was back cascading on her shoulders. Missing Kagome's blush, he added, "I can pick you up too. I'm going to pick up both Shippo and Sota anyway."

She let out a timid laugh. "Don't you have work?"

"I do, but…"

"Thank you," the young girl whispered, turning to face him. "But Koga is already picking me up," she confessed.

Well, that was karma for you.

* * *

**Word counts:** 169; 866.

* * *

_**Acknowledgments**_

_Everyone who reviewed the previous chapter, **WitchyGirl99**, **ShouraiChan**, **Mika**, **Nyony's Echo**, **Say0mi Saki**, **LovesDepp**, **riya**, **The Dreaming Soul**, **LoVe23**, **Ruthe-La**, **avatarneytiri**, **whoobonhooaglo**, **i the bright angel**, **Dark Angel Winry Rockbell**, **xXKimiko SakakiXx**, **coconut-forever**, **karrina**, thank you._

* * *

**A/N:** Well, it's a total of four updates in a row. Maybe you were expecting more, I was, but to sum it up, I was in Morocco with a friend of mine a week ago and on our way back, our bags were stolen. I spent a lot of time fixing things since I don't have a passport anymore (and I'm leaving on Tuesday, again) so, basically, I'm sorry, but my life sucks sometimes.

Now, for the people out there who think there is too much InuKik in story—quit reading, plain and simple. Quit in silence; even if you tell me how much you hate the InuKik pairing, if I still need it for a few chapters, then guess what? They'll still be together.

And for those who think Inuyasha has been a jack ass lately—they clearly forgot to carefully read the freaking summary of the story (how could you miss it, though?). Kagome is better off with Koga? Yeah. Right. I definitely agree. A guy who is on trial for a reason that is still unknown (*coughs*Koga*coughs*) is definitely perfect for Kagome. Kudos.


	13. A Wonderful Thing

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_"Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children." – George Bernard Shaw._

_**

* * *

**_

_**A Wonderful Thing**_

"Kagome!"

The teenager winced at his overly excited tone. "Hi, Koga," she greeted hurriedly, trying to avoid the whispers and murmurs coming from her friends and classmates. Yuka, Eri and Ayumi already knew she had a tiny little crush on a grown-up man; what would she look like now that another older guy was giving her a ride home?

They had to get away, quickly. She didn't want any rumor and she surely didn't want the school to call her grandfather, telling him his granddaughter was seeing older men. Koga attended Todai, he was a student, but still…

They just had to get away.

"So… How are you?" the blue-eyed young man asked, placing his hand on the small of her back as they walked towards his parked car.

"Oh, uh… Fine… You?" _Damn… Are they still watching?_ She glanced around, paying little attention to the economics student. Maybe she should have had Inuyasha pick her up. She immediately shook her head. No, that would have been much worse…

"… and then I thought we should really see each other, I mean ever since the party, we…"

Kagome didn't even realize the good-looking boy was talking to her and waiting for some reaction until he held the car door open for her, giving her a questioning look.

"So what do you think? This Saturday?" he asked softly, a Hollywood smile plastered on his perfect face. His voice was a mixture of cuteness and temptation, of gallantry and manliness and the young girl what every other girl of her age would have done.

She blushed and nodded idiotically even though she didn't know what she had said yes to.

Damn it. She wasn't that distracted usually.

"S-Saturday?" Kagome repeated, getting in.

"Yes. Hokkaido."

"H-Hokkaido?" she repeated, watching him with wide eyes as he started the car. "It's going to be a last minute flight and I'm not sure I can—"

"Kagome," he cut in, the way-too-wonderful smile still on his face. "There won't be any last minute flights. Dad will take care of it," he winked. "So all you'll have to do is enjoy yourself. With me."

Something in his last sentence definitely sounded weird but Kagome nodded again. Saturday. How was she supposed to convince her grandfather to let her go on a date with some random guy? Well, he wasn't so random, he was Sango's friend…

She frowned. "Say… How long have you known Sango?"

"Oh, it's been… a few weeks, really. She's more, uh…" He paused, checking the rear-view mirror for the umpteenth time. "She's more like the friend of a friend, you know?" _More like the friend of the ex-girlfriend… _

"Is something wrong, Koga?"

He stiffened, then shrugged. "Bah, it's been a hard day. I just…" he chuckled. "I had this impression that someone was following us. Sorry." Still, there was that wreck of a car, right behind them…. The blue-eyed young man shook his head, sighing. He was just paranoid. "We're almost there, Kagome."

* * *

"Fuck! You think he saw me?"

Big green eyes stared at the grown-up in confusion. "You just said a very bad word, Mr. Lawyer," the little boy stated, his arms crossed over his small chest.

"I didn't," Inuyasha countered, re-emerging from under his seat. They were causing a lot of trouble and cars were honking at them but he still drove ever so slowly. They were nearing the shrine already and the guy had been clean so far. There had been no _smooching_.

"Why are we doing this? Seriously, this guy is giving Kagome a ride home to make sure she's okay and you are following them to make sure they're okay. And who's making sure _we _are okay?"

Dark-brown eyes glared at the kid. "Look, you are five years old," Inuyasha scolded, his jaw twitching nervously. "So just… act like it!"

"I am! I'm asking you a lot of questions!"

The lawyer grunted and mimicked Shippo's pose as he crossed his arms over his chest, looking away. When another driver passed him, honking and flipping him the bird, Inuyasha quit sulking and hit the gas pedal. _Damn this kid. _He was just following his instincts. There was something about that Koga guy that rubbed him the wrong way. His name alone sounded wrong. All he wanted was to make sure that the boy didn't try anything funny.

"You know, Kagome lost her parents," the redhead continued. "That doesn't mean you have to act like a daddy."

Inuyasha slammed on the brakes. "You're lucky I told you to put on your safety belt, runt. Besides, are you serious? Me? Acting like her father?"

His eyes widened to the point that Shippo thought they were going to fall out from their sockets but the boy had been so scared that he didn't even find it funny. "You are crazy!" he sniffed. "You wanted to kill me!" he whined and the dark-haired man panicked.

"You can't be crying!" What the hell was he supposed to do? He had no candy! "Shippo…?" he called softly. The crying wouldn't stop. "What can I do to make you shut up?" he muttered to himself.

"I heard that."

"Huh."

"Take me to the organic zoo."

"I will do it. Wait. The _what_?"

The redhead was now grinning and they were slowly reaching the shrine. "In two months, my teacher is taking the whole class to the organic zoo. Then we'll have to draw what we saw. You know, animals and all that stuff." Shippo sighed when Inuyasha's only response was a blink. "Grandpa never trusted teachers so he won't lemme go but I know he's too old to take me there. That's what he keeps on telling me. I know he wants to go to the lottery club instead. So will you take me to the organic zoo? I want to draw too."

The lawyer snorted. "First of all, it's not an organic zoo but a natural park, genius."

"I know," Shippo pouted.

"Pfft. Fine, we'll go."

"Yeah!"

"No 'yeah'."

"'kay."

Inuyasha parked the car in silence, wondering why Kagome hadn't exited Koga's car already. He was about to tell the redhead beside him to stop biting his nails, that he was swallowing down millions of bacteria when the five-year old let out a loud gasp.

"Holy shit! Cooties!"

"Shippo! You just said a very bad wo—whoa!" His fists clenched almost automatically at the sight of Kagome leaning in to give the blue-eyed boy a peck on the lips. "Okay, this guy has got it coming…"

Inuyasha was about to get out of his old and battered vehicle to beat the shit out of that Koga guy when an extremely furious, eleven-year-old Sota appeared beside his scrapheap of a car. He knocked on the window and motioned for him to slid it down.

"Hey, Sota," Shippo greeted, having completely forgotten about the kissing scene.

"You were supposed to come and pick me up," the youngest Higurashi protested.

_Shit._ Inuyasha offered him a sheepish smile. "Sorry, kiddo. Won't happen again."

"Yeah," the boy nodded with a pissed-off, evil smile. "'Cause I'm gonna tell Grandpa and he's gonna kick your lawyer ass out of this house." Sota started running, an irritating smirk on his lips. "Catch me if you can!"

"Hah!" Quickly getting out of his car as if the seat had burnt his butt, Inuyasha raised his fist in mid-air. "You want a fight, I'll give you hell!" he yelled after Kagome's little brother ignoring the fact that Koga had left along with the odd stares the teenage girl was giving him.

Still seated in the car, Shippo moved to grab the keys and pulled.

_Crack._

The redhead gulped, staring at the broken object he held in his tiny hand. _Okay… Inuyasha's already furious thanks to Koga and Sota, how can I tell him the car key broke?_

Well, he could just forget about it.

Dropping the bunch of keys on the driver's seat, Shippo silently exited the car and ran into Kagome's arms, asking about her day and telling her to pay no attention to the two idiots running around the shrine.

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**Word counts:** 518; 895.

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_**Acknowledgments**_

_I'd answer your reviews, but it's been over a month so that would be pointless to me. Anyway, many thanks to **jblockk**, **LoVe 23**, **Say0mi Saki**, **Nyony's Echo**, **i the bright angel**, **xXKimiko SakakiXx**, , **moonfaerie326**, **Mika**, **riya**, **Ruthe-La**, **whoobonhooaglo**, **Dark Angel Winry Rockbell**, **The Dreaming Soul**, **Emerald Fury**, **WITCHBLADE86**, **dangitsesshomaru**, **WitchyGirl99**, **Diamond369**, **LovesDepp**, **SailorKagome** and **katmatt**. You are all wonderful people._

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**A/N:** This site formatting sucks ass!


	14. If it weren't for Christmas

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter._

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_"Roses are reddish, violets are bluish; if it weren't for Christmas, we'd be all Jewish." – Benny Hill._

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_**If it weren't for Christmas**_

It was finally there.

Christmas time.

The Sunset Shrine stood as solemn as it did every other day of the year and no decoration had been put in order not to offend the Lord Buddha. However, the house next to it looked every bit the festive place, even if only from the outside. Fairy lights hung on the balcony, the windows and a fake Santa was climbing on the roof. It was slightly extravagant, especially when there were no Christian people inside and it was also a western tradition.

The boys had been too excited about those decorations.

The two-story house was more cramped than usual and Grandfather Higurashi wasn't exactly pleased, but as long as his grandchildren were satisfied, he figured he could be so, too. Miroku had shaved, even though he was clearly annoyed by the whole celebration atmosphere, Shippo was wearing Sota's Santa hat and bouncing with excitement as he waited for his presents while Kagome was in the kitchen, slicing the Yule log. Kaede, the old gossip, was there as well, helping the young girl. It had been depressing at first, celebrating Christmas without Mama Higurashi, but thankfully, everyone else had come, just like the previous year. Sango was, in fact, arranging a few things in the living room while her little brother Kohaku played video games with Sota. To the siblings, the Higurashis were family and having no parents to spend the holidays with, there they were.

By the fireplace, fatty Buyo was curled up and sleeping.

"Kagome, I wanna open my gifts," the red-haired five-year-old pressed as he entered the kitchen, pulling Sango's hand.

The teenager sighed and put the knife she was using to slice the huge Christmas cake down. "Tomorrow morning, Shippo. You must give Santa enough time to bring them to you."

"Bah, I saw you hid them in your bedroom, so I know Santa was early this year. Besides, there are some people who open their gifts at midnight."

Sango chuckled and went to help Kaede with the dishes.

"Who does that?" Kagome asked, blushing from embarrassment.

"Some people," the kid repeated, "in Europe. That's what Miss Nosaka said at school. She said it was best to open them on Christmas morning, for excitement and suspense, but who gives a fuck."

Kagome, Sango and Kaede gasped, eyes widening in shock. The older woman muttered a few incomprehensible words before stomping out, looking for Grandfather Higurashi.

"Wha—Where did you learn that?" Kagome murmured. "What you said is very bad, Shippo. Where are your manners?"

The little boy shrugged, the blush reddening his cheeks quickly reaching his ears as he feared being grounded—and on Christmas, no less. "I-I'm sorry, Kagome. I thought it was okay for me to say a few bad words from time to time. Mr. Lawyer said that about himself."

Kagome's eyebrows shot up. "Inuyasha said it was okay for him to say a few bad words from time to time?" _Stupid him, to say such things to a five-year-old._

"Yes," Shippo muttered, his head bowed.

Sighing loudly, Kagome concluded, "Look, I won't tell Grandpa about this, but you must never drop the f-bomb ever again."

"Oh, so that what the f-bomb is!" Eyes shining with excitement and accomplishment, the redhead sauntered off in the living room. "Sota! I know what the f-bomb is! Now give me back my lollipops, you thief!"

Shaking her head, Kagome exchanged a bemused look with Sango before they both started laughing. Kids. They never ceased to surprise them.

"Where's the lawyer again?" the brunette asked her best friend as they entered the living room, the incredibly large Yule log in their arms. That cake would surely last forever, Sango was thinking.

"Celebrating Christmas with his one month girlfriend," Kagome answered with a roll of her eyes.

"Jealous much?" the twenty-year-old teased. Before her friend could yell at her, Sango quickly added, batting her eyelashes "I'm sorry, I forgot about that Koga of yours."

"Are you making fun of me?" the teenager warned with narrowed eyes and a friendly smile.

The two of them sat down on the couch and tried not to pay attention at young boys running everywhere as they played tag. Grandfather Higurashi and Kaede were sitting near the Christmas tree in a Japanese fashion as they sipped their tea, probably trying to better digest the royal meal they had eaten over an hour ago.

"How long has it been?" Sango asked before she yawned, patting her belly. "I can't believe you met him at my birthday party. I was so wasted, too."

Kagome smiled and tried to avoid her stare. "I don't know, three weeks maybe. We don't see each other very often; he picks me up at school sometimes." She paused. "Oh, and," she swallowed, "he offered me a trip to Hokkaido. With him."

Silence.

"So far, it's been delayed to next week, with Christmas and all."

More silence.

And Sango snapped. "Kagome!" The younger girl jumped. "I hope you refused!"

Then, there went the never ending tirade about the guy's bad habits and working charms. Apparently, although he was a great guy, the kind type, Koga had had too many girlfriends to be serious when it came to Kagome. Besides, she wasn't even his type. His last conquest? Ayame. And goodness, did Kagome dislike the girl, even though she was one of Sango's friends. There was the social background too. Koga Matsuno was a spoiled brat. Kagome worked three jobs—she was the schoolgirl, the WacDonald's waitress and the only woman in the family. Koga Matsuno was popular, maybe even a womanizer at the age of twenty-one. Kagome was a seventeen-year-old virgin.

That was Sango's opinion and Kagome ended up doubting her supposed relationship with the guy. It was best to keep him as a friend, at least according to her best friend—who was an acquaintance of Koga, the two of them attending the same university. _What do I do? I thought he was really interested in me. He's been sweet so far, not a pig…._

She had to admit the trip to Hokkaido sounded suspicious, but she had never looked too much into it since she had little hope her Grandpa would ever agree to such a thing. Koga was older than her and they would have been all by themselves. _Fat chance._

"Kagome!" Shippo's voice interrupted her thoughts. "My gifts! It's past midnight! And after that, we play a card game! You promised."

Smiling softly, the raven-haired girl nodded and went to collect the many presents the small boy kept talking about. Sota and Kohaku followed to help her while everyone else gathered near the Christmas tree. When everything was settled, the family of sorts exchanged gifts, the boys screaming with excitement. Sota received a brand-new, professional soccer ball, the latest Wii game, a pair of expensive sneakers; Kohaku got many American clothes along with a computer video game while Shippo was the most spoiled kid. Granted, he did not receive expensive clothes nor mind-numbing electronics, but he had his own set of children games and he loved it. The girls were offered handbags and makeup, heeled shoes, money and Sango also got Kagome the Criminal Code of Japan, especially since her friend wanted to apply for law school at Todai.

Much to everyone's amusement, Miroku received an electric shaver, a comb and a new sweater. He, himself, found it funny and appreciated his presents. The young man then handed two train tickets to his grandfather and Kaede, saying they should try Sapporo, the double meaning not lost to anyone in the room, except maybe for the younger ones. Kagome and Sango both laughed madly—had they been missing something during all those years?

Then Sango offered Miroku a book about technology and electronics and in turn he looked at her intently. "Thank you," he whispered, his tone a mixture of gratitude and honesty, his eyes almost gleaming with interest—the usual boredom they reflected was chased away.

That moment, however, seemed so surreal that Kagome thought she had been seeing things. How would Sango know whether Miroku was interested in electronics, anyway?

"Ginzo Higurashi, here's your present," Kaede said with a small smile, having just received a new tea set along with a warm comforter. "Higurashi?" she called again when the older man said nothing in response.

"Grandpa?" Sota called.

Miroku, who was sitting next to his grandfather, narrowed his eyes and tried to avoid the curious—yet worried—glances the other members of his family were sending their way. Placing a strong hand on his grandfather's shoulder, he shook him softly and then noticed that the old man had been clutching the left side of his chest.

"Fuck."

Kaede dropped her tea set; the boys gulped, Shippo clutching Sota's right arm and Sango panicked.

"S-Someone… call an ambulance!"

Kagome simply stared, her eyes void of any emotion. _Not again, please._

* * *

"A-And then," a joyful, dark-haired man blabbed as he laughed at his girlfriend's tipsy state, "there was Shippo, the little boy—you know about him, right? Well, he said—" A strawberry hit him in the face and he laughed again, grabbing the soft thigh that was resting on his lap and softly pinching the skin.

"Dammit, Inuyasha! If you mention another Higurashi person, I'm going to kick your sorry ass," the woman who was lying with him in bed warned. "I don't know this family, they're not ever _your_ family and yet I hear about them every single day!" she laughed. And protested.

"I could always introduce you; they're a bit weird but they're also… nice, I guess," he tried to elaborate, but Kikyo was already nipping his chin.

"We're not talking about the Higurashi family," she purred. "Not tonight. And we're not talking about my Mom neither, even though she wants to meet you."

The want-to-be lawyer hummed as he was slowly getting lost in pleasure.

His cell phone rang.

"It's probably your brother; forget about it," Kikyo murmured, pushing away the empty tray that was currently in her way. Their meal had been more than just delicious—_sushi_, champagne, fruits, chocolate… Yes, it was definitely time for things to get interesting.

"Yeah, probably," Inuyasha whispered back, his girlfriend's hands fisting his black mane.

His cell phone kept ringing.

"Lemme tell 'em to fuck off," he managed to say through pecks and kisses.

Kikyo sighed and agreed in silence. They had all night after all. She watched him flip his cell phone open and answer the call.

She frowned when she heard someone crying on the other end of the line.

The next thing she knew, she and Inuyasha were both getting dressed and making their way to her car—since Inuyasha's had disappeared under mysterious circumstances, _apparently_—with a definite destination.

The hospital.

So much for a Merry Christmas.

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**Word counts:** 1,516; 327.

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_**Acknowledgements**_

_Thank you for your support and patience, __**Ruthe-La**__, __**WitchyGirl99**__, __**Nyony's Echo**__, __**Say0mi Saki**__, __**LovesDepp**__, __**Mika**__, __**whoohoo**__, __**SerenityBlade**__, __**MidnightFlame325**__, __**DJ The Serendipitous**__, __**The Dreaming Soul**__, __**Inuyashite-das-right**__, __**kagz-and-sesshy**__, __**kittypaws182**__, __**MomoLaFey**__,__** SailorKagome **__and __**katmatt**__._

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**A/N:** It has been Christmas time for too long in this story, it's time we move on. Want to hear something funny? I had to reread all thirteen chapters of this story to make sure there weren't any plot holes and that what I would be writing next would be relevant. Happy now? Next drabble is already all planned out. Don't you worry this time and Merry Christmas to all of you. Feedback?


	15. Life

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter.

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_"Life didn't promise to be wonderful." – Teddy Pendergrass.

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_**Life**_

Large, glass doors slid open as they made their way inside, the smell of disinfectant and permanent sickness filling their nostrils. They had run several red lights, ignored the many road signs and taken shortcuts, yet they still arrived two hours later. Car accidents had been blocking the highway and Kikyo lived out of town—he had really thought they would have never gotten there in time. _In time…_ Could it be that they were too late, plain and simple?

"Inuyasha!" A tall brunette he recognized as Kagome's closest friend waved at him when they had no idea where the Higurashis were. "Over here." Ignoring the dark looks he was receiving from the nurses, Inuyasha followed Sango in the emergency department. Soon enough, the redhead who had recently grown attached to him came to meet them, his smile of gratitude reaching his eyes.

"You're here, Mr. Lawyer."

Inuyasha quickened his pace, paying little attention to his girlfriend, who was a lot behind him and calling his name, and to anything that really wasn't Higurashi-related. His mind was filled with questions—questions regarding the old man's well-being, the children's reactions and Kagome… How was she handling the situation? She had already lost her mother and losing her grandfather only a few months later… _Who am I kidding? There is no way she could handle any of this._

"Where's Miroku?" Inuyasha asked once he entered the waiting room.

Kagome's cousin nodded at him and stood up. As Miroku walked towards him, Inuyasha's eyes were fixed on the raven-haired teenager sitting in the left corner of the room. She had glanced at him when he spoke and was now staring at the carpeted floor. Her eyes weren't as puffy and red as Shippo's—they weren't puffy nor red at all, actually. That was unexpected. Was her heart not beating fast at all, threatening to burst, as she feared the worst that could happen?

Inuyasha followed Miroku in the corridor. He was probably the only one who was able to speak to him at the moment.

"So..." Inuyasha patted his shoulder. "Tell me what happened. Do you know if he's gonna be okay?"

"Seriously, I don't." Miroku rubbed his forehead. "He has had a heart-attack while we were exchanging gifts. I don't even know if we noticed it on time and—ah… I wonder why he was this silent, you know? People usually are in pain and start groaning; they call for help... But Grandpa?" He scoffed. "He was silent. I—"

The lawyer grabbed his shoulders, swallowing hard. _This guy hasn't had to deal with emotions in a while and it fucking shows._ "Stop ranting like it's your goddamned fault because—"

An older man cleared his throat as he stood behind them, getting their attention. He was wearing a white blouse, a medical chart in his hands. A younger doctor stood close to him and Inuyasha recognized him as an intern. They both looked overly tired and were undoubtedly back from surgery.

_Surgery…_ "How is he?" he blurted out, letting go of Miroku.

The older doctor still introduced himself first. "I am Dr. Suikotsu Kusao and in charge of Mr. Higurashi. He should be fine from now on." He then spoke to Miroku. "I know you did what needs to be done in such situations. You brought him here safely. If your grandfather survived the surgery, it is also thanks to you."

_Okay. World, stop spinning right _now_._ Inuyasha stared at Miroku, who was back to being his usual bored self, glanced at the doctor, then looked back at Miroku. "I'm sorry, what?"

The doctor smiled and was about to praise Miroku some more when he was interrupted.

"He used to be a medical student," Kagome said in a soft tone. Her little brother, Shippo, Kaede, Sango and another boy Inuyasha didn't know were all standing behind her and waiting for the news—answers—_anything_. Studying their faces, Inuyasha noticed the color had drained from the old hag's face and that Sota was currently _glaring_ at him.

He frowned. _What the…?_

"_Sensei_, please," Kagome spoke again. "Is Grandpa alright?" She sounded worried enough but she wasn't crying.

She wasn't crying. Why wasn't she crying? If it were him, he would be throwing things, yelling at everyone—and crying, that too, yes. Why was she so _calm_? If the old man died then what would she do? What was worse was the he _knew_ she was well aware of the fact that her grandfather was all she had left to help her support the family. To stay this calm was too mature. She was seventeen. She was supposed to live young… and cry young.

The doctor nodded and told them he was barely awake, that they could see him, just one by one since the surgery had him exhausted.

The emergency rooms had glass walls and as they made their way to Grandfather Higurashi's room, they all felt as if they were visiting some kind of a twisted art gallery, illness being the main theme. As if acknowledging her presence again, Inuyasha held Kikyo's hand, who in return asked him if everything was alright. Clearly, it wasn't but he still nodded. Politeness.

Then, he was there. Lying in the cleanest, whitest bed sheets. An oxygen mask covered his mouth and Shippo sniffed again. Miroku shifted uncomfortably and Sango hesitated before she placed a hand on his arm. His body stiffened but he figured that given the circumstances, it wasn't so bad. Kaede covered her mouth and Sota exchanged a worried look with Kohaku, who to nobody's surprise, was silent as ever.

"He's alive," Kagome whispered to herself. "I was so scared," she told no one in particular, though everyone heard her. "I felt so cold… I thought I was frozen to the bone. Just like when Mama died."

Inuyasha's lips parted and he reached out for her when Sota anticipated his actions by taking Kagome's hand in his. He frowned, again, and remained silent.

"Oh—he's waking up," Kaede croaked out as she was an extremely sensitive old woman. "He looks so tired…"

_No shit,_ Inuyasha wanted to respond. He knew better, though, and his dark brown eyes stared at Ginzo Higurashi. This man, this well-respected shrine keeper and grandfather, who had seen his daughter die, was now lying himself in a hospital. Surely, he was out of danger but the situation had to remind him—and the whole Higurashi family, too—that he wasn't invincible, as much as he believed he was. Men like him wanted to live long, Inuyasha just knew it, and they enjoyed life no matter what. Grandfather Higurashi could have been a tad crazy, he was needed nevertheless.

He blinked and as he probably felt observed, he turned his head slightly and looked in their direction. Shippo waved at him and Kagome smiled, her hands on the glass wall. His own hand twitched and his index finger pointed at the one person he then beckoned to call.

"Mr. Lawyer, I think Grandpa wants to talk to you."

"M-Me?" Inuyasha stuttered.

"Yeah. You," Sota murmured.

Miroku pushed him inside when he didn't budge, telling him to _move his ass already_.

Dr. Suikotsu Kusao was standing next to the door and ready to leave with the medical intern when he asked, bemused, "Well, may I ask who he is? I've been your grandfather's cardiologist ever since I started working here and I don't recall ever meeting him."

"He lives with us," Sota replied.

"He is my boyfriend," Kikyo whispered absentmindedly as she stared at Inuyasha though the glass wall, a smile on her lips.

Kagome's head jerked to the side, her gaze now focused on the woman's happy face. She seemed so proud of her _boyfriend_, as if he had just accomplished something marvelous. Was being in love this _stupid_? How could she be seeing stars and rainbows at the same time when her grandfather nearly died? And what had Inuyasha done to have her feeling this proud? _I may just be seeing things…_ That, or it was jealousy speaking but still… Was there any reason as to why _he_ was implicitly told to come in?

Chocolate orbs watched his rather muscular figure as he sat down, next to her grandfather.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" the lawyer leaned in closer, making sure his words reached the convalescent man. "You quite scared the crowds tonight—and on Christmas Eve no less. When Shippo called—"

"Kagome," Grandfather Higurashi spoke hoarsely.

"Kagome? You want her to come in? I can—"

The old man shook his head, grabbing Inuyasha's forearm. "No. No…" His hold on the onyx-haired tenant was weak and he had some difficulty to keep his eyes open. "Taisho… I mean, Inuyasha…" His throat was sore. "I consider you family," he confessed, his voice low. "Remember when I told you we could be your family?" Not waiting for a response, he added, "Now I need you to be part of our family. I can't count on Miroku so this is why I'm talking to you.

"I'll be alright from now on but I'm considering—" He cleared his throat, wincing. "I'm considering the eventuality that my heart might fail me again before Kagome graduates from college or before Miroku decides to get a hold on his life, if that's bound to happen, that is."

Inuyasha gulped, wondering what the old man was getting at. "I understand… And truth be told, I have been feeling at home ever since I moved in," he said with a reassuring smile. "If you… want me to stay—"

"You have you own life," Grandfather Higurashi cut in and Inuyasha wondered where he found the strength to actually argue. "You have a job, a girlfriend… I am not telling you stay indefinitely." He coughed, then groaned. "Just promise me you'll stay close to those young people. You're Miroku's friend and deep down, I know the kids enjoy your company. As for Kagome…"

Inuyasha looked up.

"… I know she likes you, too. She's been spending more time in the kitchen since you moved in and believe me when I say it's not only because of the contract." The greying man coughed again. "Stay close to her as well."

Staying close to Kagome? He could do that but what about her? Did she want him near her? She hadn't even been the one to call him when her grandfather felt ill. They were friends, he guessed, but he also was very aware of the fact that he had mixed feelings for the girl. She had been a woman to him when they first met, yet ever since he moved in, he considered her as a kid—a gorgeous kid that often had him feeling like a slight pedophile. Staying close to her didn't sound like the greatest idea but if these were the old shrine keeper's wishes, Inuyasha figured he could give it a try.

As a friend.

"I trust you, Taisho. Just like I would trust my son."

The ordeal sounded a lot more complicated all of sudden.

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**Word count:** 1,882.

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_**Acknowledgements**_

**Mika:** Haha, yay for Shippo! An adult and kid mixed together? Exactly! I have at least accomplished that. Thank you. Happy New Year!

**riya:** Did it! Hurray, an update. Happy New Year.

**Whoobonhooaglo:** Seriously, what kind of pen name is that? Haha. I have so much fun typing it. I beg your pardon for leaving you all at Caca place! ;) You're welcome, anyway. I hope you enjoyed this update as well. Happy New Year!

**SailorKagome:** The most awesome Christmas gift ever? Really? I mean—_really_? Wow. Consider this as a New Year gift then!

**HanyouGirl:** Goodness, I feel scolded. Grandpa's alive and not dying anytime soon.

**Ruthe-La:** Bated breath? Um. Oh, really, you'd be my beta? PM me right away, my savior! Thank you for the feedback and Happy New Year!

As for '**curious**'… I don't mean to sound rude but… If you think this is not an Inuyasha and Kagome story, why the hell have you been reading all fourteen chapters? You think it is an Inuyasha and Kagome story—it _is _an Inuyasha and Kagome story but maybe you're just mad at me for not writing fluff scenes or sex scenes…yet.

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**A/N:** I didn't think I'd actually write about 2,000 words. See, this was supposed to be really short. Oh, well. Something new may start next chapter…. Oh, I would also like to thank you all for the great feedback I received for last chapter. Please, do the same for this one? Haha.


	16. You're a Part of Me

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_**You're a Part of Me***_

Convalescence was classified as a bad experience.

Grandpa had spent most of the Christmas holiday season at the hospital and so festivities weren't exactly part of the Higurashi family's plans. Kaede, the old friend of the family, had been showing up even more than usual and she was always the chatty, bugging yet useful hag. Inuyasha couldn't quite stand her more than five minutes but he figured as long as she was there to lend a hand, she could be a pain in the ass. As for the boys, Sota and Shippo, they had been trying to act cute ever since their grandfather had a heart attack, helping Kagome and Kaede with the house chores and trying not to act annoying. They still were so, though, in Inuyasha's opinion. Especially Sota... On the other hand, it was relieving to see that Miroku was back to being his old self—bored and lazy. It had been too much shocking to know about his past. There was no way Inuyasha could picture the unshaven guy as a Med student.

People had been showing up at the hospital too. Kagome's best friend, Sango, for starters, then the neighbors and even some acquaintances Inuyasha had never seen before. They all brought flowers with them, along with get-well-soon cards and gifts, but the most interesting part had been the one where Bankotsu—_his_ old time friend—and Jakotsu—the gay clown who had found _him_ a place to stay to begin with—came to visit the old man. Apparently, it had all been an initiative of Jakotsu, who was on good terms with the family and especially with Kagome, as he had known her mother for a long time before she passed away and helped her find a tenant to earn some money, but Bankotsu hadn't objected since another brother of his worked at the hospital. Of course, it had to be that obnoxious Suikotsu Kusao, Grandpa's cardiologist. As much as it was a common last name, Inuyasha was starting to think that every Kusao that could be found in Tokyo was actually related to all those crazy people.

However, it was becoming harder and harder to be around the Higurashi family. Grandpa had been home for nearly a week now and everyone was making a fuss over him, pampering him and all that stuff that had Inuyasha feeling uncomfortable. He surely remembered the promise he had made to Ginzo Higurashi—staying close to the kids and making sure they had someone to rely on from time to time—but who said Kagome, Sota and Shippo _needed_ him? Even if they did need someone else, who said they would want him of all people? _Miroku should just go back to Med school._

Inuyasha stood staring at himself in the mirror for a brief moment as he had just finished taking a quick shower. The same usual and bothering questions were on his mind and there was only one answer he wanted to blurt out. _Move. Leave. Get away._ He knew he felt compelled to stay with the Higurashi family just because he had no family of his own. Sesshomaru and his step-mother didn't exactly count. Besides, now that he thought of Sesshomaru... He had received an e-mail from him a couple of days ago.

Sesshomaru had found him a place to stay. Alone. Independently alone.

Inuyasha had yet to reply. How was he going to tell something like that to a still recovering Grandpa?

Aggravated with himself and the whole situation, Inuyasha grunted and started drying his long, unruly black hair with his towel, droplets of water running down his chiseled chest.

* * *

Kagome was smiling to herself.

She was lying on her side, with one elbow propping her up as she had been reading the red agenda for two hours straight now. She had even locked her bedroom door to avoid any nuisance, including a pair of young kids begging her to play tag or hide and seek—as _always_—with them. She had long figured out what the red agenda really was—Inuyasha's mother diary. Kagome felt guilty for not returning it and even guiltier for having somewhat stolen it. Really, it hadn't been her intention but that night... That night when she had first had an argument with Inuyasha over the fact that he always made empty promises and that he had gone to get _hickeys_ instead of helping her out—what a stupid argument. In any case, she had kept the red agenda she had found in her mother's—in Inuyasha's bedroom when he still wasn't home.

Izayoi was his mother's name. It was an original one, Kagome often thought, a cute one but Inuyasha was even cuter when he was little. There were poems, there were letters—_love _letters, Inuyasha's father was obviously a smooth talker—and there were pictures.

"*No, I am thinking that they are not coming back—I am thinking that then, if I try again, I know it is no longer the same," Kagome read out loud, a fluttering feeling in her stomach. Izayoi wasn't naïve at all, to her mind. She would have fallen in love with Toga Taisho herself if such letters had been sent to her. "I have been asking myself about it for some time—those moments with you, are they coming back? The words with you—is it worth it or am I wishing for more luck?"

Rolling on her belly, Kagome giggled, still reading, "And for every day, I take myself a memory that I keep hidden far away from time, together with fast looks, moments that I keep for me—and if you stopped only for one moment, you could really understand that this is what I have been trying to tell you for almost a lifetime—I keep it for me." She sighed dreamily. "You're a part of me. And I take it with me. I hide it for me," she finally whispered before she closed the diary.

When it wasn't poetry, Toga mentioned money he had sent for Inuyasha even though he knew Izayoi refused it. Was Inuyasha's father a traveling businessman? Was his mother a home wrecker? He did mention a half-brother before. Kagome was certain, although sometimes she thought it was just the romantic part of her speaking, Inuyasha's parents had loved each other dearly. Along the way, though, something went wrong and on the 06-02-90, Izayoi stopped writing letters and poems and there were no more pictures of a young Inuyasha.

Sighing loudly, the chocolate-eyed girl got up and grabbed the diary. She had better put it back where she found it weeks and weeks ago. If she was lucky enough, Inuyasha wouldn't suspect a thing. His bedroom was a mess anyway.

Kagome quietly exited her bedroom, almost walking on tiptoe, when she collided with a hard body as she passed the bathroom. "I'm sorry..." She looked up with a small smile. "...Inuyasha?" Her face fell.

Her lawyer tenant gave her a puzzled stare and the only thing he was wearing, she noticed, was a towel wrapped around his midsection. And it barely covered anything.

And _crap_, she was carrying a stolen item that belonged to him.

"Sorry, Kagome. Did you need to use the bathroom?"

She shook her head, then stuttered, "N-no, not at all, I was just—"

"Wait," he cut in abruptly, the funny look on his face having completely disappeared. "What's that? What are you doing with that diary in your hands?" he accused with a frown.

Kagome gulped. "Inuyasha, I—"

"I can't believe you people!" he shouted in her face, snatching Izayoi's diary from her hands. "First my car disappears and the redhead won't admit it has something to do with him, then you go and rummage through my stuff and now you even steal from me?"

Kagome snapped. "Hey, I didn't mean to—"

"What?" he interrupted her again, his face reddening from all the anger. "Seriously, Kagome, when did I touch any of your mother's belongings? And who gave you the right to enter _my _room?"

"That's _my mother's_ bedroom, you arrogant idiot!" she shouted back and immediately regretted it, as they both fell silent, looking like they knew they had both crossed some invisible line long ago.

"Right," Inuyasha whispered. "Well, now that I got my mother's diary back, you can have your mother's bedroom back too. I'm leaving anyway. Sesshomaru—my half-brother found an apartment for me. I'm tired of you nosy people."

Kagome stood baffled, her eyes glued to the tall, dark-haired man in front of her. "What?"

"It's enough for me," he elaborated, deep eyes boring into hers. "This is not about paying some rent and being hospitable. I think," he swallowed hard, looking away, "we have all invaded each other's space."

"Grandpa is going to be ecstatic upon hearing about this," the young girl countered, not even aware of how true that sentence was.

"You don't need to be so sarcastic about this," Inuyasha pointed out, sounding tired.

"I am not," she scoffed, turning her head back to him, "Actually, I am surprised you didn't move out the moment you found a girlfriend, seeing as how _nosy_ my family and I are."

The twenty-seven year old man watched her as she walked past him and went inside the bathroom she didn't really need to use. "You're acting like a spoiled brat."

"You're calling _me_ a spoiled brat?" he heard her scoff. "Quit acting like you're all grown-up and mature when you aren't even half," she shouted at the door. "Leave me alone now, I have afternoon classes today."

When she faced the mirror, Kagome wanted to slap herself for never returning the goddamned diary and for feeling guilty as well as overly sad about his upcoming departure.

* * *

**Word counts:** 600; 1,043.

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_*Title and lyrics taken from __Zero Assoluto__'s song, _Sei parte di me_ (2007)._

* * *

_**Acknowledgements**_

**Mika:** Well, at least Kikyo cracked you up and you're not mad at me, unlike some other people, haha. Worry not, Grandpa will be alright from now on. As for Inuyasha not letting him down... That I cannot promise! (insert evil smile)

**HanyouGirl:** So your birthday was the day before my last update? Woo. It would be totally lame to wish you a happy birthday now but let me tell you that I'm glad you liked the chapter and that it felt like a late birthday present. It's good to hear you find Kikyo funny too. It was meant to be that way.

**Riya:** This was so delayed, I'm sorry. My updating will hopefully get better.

**SailorKagome:** That scene with Inuyasha and Gramps brought you to tears. Wow. I surely wasn't expecting that. And sorry about this not-so-fast update. Things will get better. Normally.

**Puresereni:** Really? It wasn't a smack in the face with sap and mush?_ Good._ I'm so relieved to hear this. I'm usually uncomfortable when I write about sick people/people dying because it can turn into shitty writing anytime.

* * *

**A/N:** I'd send this over to my beta but I have fast updates scheduled so I can't bombard her with attachments and files to proof-read. Besides, I don't think my drabbling needs a huge amount of editing. Feel free to point any glaring mistake.

Thank you all for the amazing feedback. Keep it coming, it makes me smile (most of the time)!


	17. Something About Your Size

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_Special thanks to my beta, __**Ruthe-la**__._

* * *

_"If a small thing has the power to make you angry, does that not indicate something about your size?" – Sydney J. Harris._

* * *

_**Something About Your Size**_

It took Kagome over fifteen minutes to reach the top of the shrine stairs. Usually, she would either take the bus or Sango—and sometimes Koga—would give her a ride home. However, her best friend had exams to pass at Tokyo U and she hadn't heard from the boy she was seeing ever since their trip to Hokkaido was delayed due to her grandfather's illness. Surprisingly enough, she didn't really mind the fact that she hadn't seen Koga in weeks. So far, they had only had a couple of dates and even though he was extremely attractive, she actually had other things in mind.

Lately, things revolved around Inuyasha Taisho, the young lawyer who was currently renting a room in her house. She had been clumsy and it had been a serious mistake to read and never return his mother's diary. She had been thinking, too—Inuyasha lost it not only because it was private, but also because his mother was probably gone. She would have to ask Grandpa about that; she knew the two of them had somehow gotten close, that much was obvious ever since that night at the hospital. _I am so stupid,_ the young girl chastised herself. _Inuyasha and I have this in common. We have no parents but unlike him, I still have a family. I should have been more considerate._

Letting out a loud sigh, Kagome quietly entered her home—the fireplace warmed the living room and her fat calico cat was curled on the rug, enjoying the silence. The boys were still at school and Kaede had volunteered to go and pick them up and Miroku was probably still sleeping. The guy was up all night, something Kagome didn't mind anymore since someone had to make sure Grandpa wasn't in need of anything. The old man often complained about his grandchildren exaggerating but they were still worried about his health, no matter what the doctor said.

"Grandpa," the raven-haired girl called. "I'm home," she announced, taking her shoes off.

"He has gone to the grocery store with Kaede," an all too familiar voice that wasn't her grandfather's responded. "They're picking your brother and Shippo from school, too."

Inuyasha was standing in the hallway that lead to the kitchen, drying his hands with a dish cloth. His dark brown eyes were staring at her in concern and he looked resigned.

"I'm sorry," Kagome blurted out, looking right back at him. "For...being nosy and disrespectful. I never wanted you to leave but if you have no intention of changing your mind then—"

"It's too late," he cut in, and her eyes dropped to the floor.

_He is leaving for real…_ Turning her head to one side, the high school student shrugged. _And for a diary nonetheless. This is stupid._

"I can't leave anymore," Inuyasha added with a defeated smile.

…_Uh?_ Her head snapped back to him and she watched as he laughed softly. "Inuyasha?"

"When your grandfather was admitted to the hospital," the lawyer explained, walking up to her, "He asked me to make a promise. He asked me to stay close to you people even though one day, I will eventually move out." He exhaled through the nose, fisting the dish cloth in his right hand. "If I leave now, we won't be close. We'll be strangers. I don't want to fail the old man."

Kagome pursed her lips, frowning. "My grandfather is old-fashioned, you know? If he asked you, it's because he's positive we will need a _man_ and that Miroku is not man enough to even consider taking up his responsibilities. You don't need to do this for him. We will manage."

Scoffing, Inuyasha countered, "Look, I'm also doing it for you, little girl. You think you can do it—acting like a housewife, raising your brother and your mother's godson _and_ going to college next year but the truth is, you _can't_. I've been to college—to law school and let me tell you, you're delusional if you think it's as easy as being in high school." When the Higurashi girl was about to respond, he quickly added, "So let me do you a favor and make me stay. Besides, we…have a contract, you know."

Kagome struggled to resist the urge to actually smile, her eyes fixed on the floor while he leaned in to catch a glimpse of her expression. When he realized it was a harder task than what he had originally thought, he placed his left hand on her shoulder and shook her, his face so close to hers she could feel his breath on her cheek.

"Kagome?" he chuckled. "You can't be mad still?"

"It's okay, Inuyasha!" She pushed him lightly. "I'm not mad, I'm—glad…that you are staying," she finally said, raising her head, her chocolate brown eyes looking into his darker ones and her heart immediately skipping a beat.

"I'm…" the older man mumbled, his hand dropping from her shoulder. "Uh…"

"What?" she whispered, deciding that he was standing way too close for comfort. While she had already felt this way about his presence back in the days when he was still settling in, she thought her mild crush had dissipated and that she just had mixed feeling about the tenant. _Obviously not._

"You know…" He leaned back, his eyes flickering to her lips for a nano second before he smiled at her again and added, "About the diary…"

"What about it?" Kagome asked, trying her best to hide the disappointment in her voice.

"You probably figured it out already, but it was my mother's." Inuyasha moved to sit on the couch and actually felt relieved when Kagome came to sit on the opposite chair. "She passed on when I was still a kid," he explained, rubbing his forehead. "I feel uncomfortable with all the private stuff she put in her diary," he confessed. "I've never met my father and his family is very secretive about his lifestyle. All I know is that he met my mother at her poetry club," Inuyasha snorted, the introverted part of him seriously wondering why he was telling Kagome so much.

"I enjoyed the poetry I read in there," Kagome said, absentmindedly playing with the hem of her skirt.

"I enjoy it too."

There was a brief moment of silence during which they both kept glancing at the walls, him drumming his fingers on the coffee table, her tapping her foot on the floor. Then Kagome spoke again.

"I went inside your room the night you came home later than usual," she told him with a small voice. "You were supposed to help me decorating the house and looking after the boys so that things wouldn't get messy. At first, I went in there to see the difference and to better realize that my mom wasn't coming back, that her room didn't belong to her anymore." Her throat tightened a little but she went on anyway. "You're messy, you never clean and your clothes are everywhere." She laughed and her shoulders shook. "Mom was your opposite, obsessively tidy. A neat freak."

Inuyasha remained silent, each one of the words she said registering in his mind.

"Then I saw the diary and quickly went through it because, well… I thought it was _your_ diary."

He frowned at that but kept quiet.

"You came home then and I was…pissed to see you had been spending the day with some girl. Sorry." Kagome pursed her lips, waiting for him to say something—anything.

When he did, however, his tone clearly indicated he wasn't pleased. "Kikyo, not _some girl_," he corrected. "You were mad because I went to see Kikyo?"

"I didn't know you had a girlfriend at the time," Kagome immediately defended herself. "Let alone that _she_ was your girlfriend. I mean—where does she come from anyway?" she joked, desperately trying to lighten the mood that had suddenly gone down in the past sixty seconds.

"She is a colleague," the dark-haired man clarified.

Huffing, Kagome stood up, feeling that their conversation needed to come to an end. "Okay, fine, she is your girlfriend, I am stupid and you are the victim here."

"Hey, if someone should be feeling angry right now, that would be me!" Inuyasha raised his voice, following her as she neared the stairs.

"Then be angry," she shouted in his face, "and leave me alone! Grab your stuff and go spend a few nights at your girlfriend's!"

Inuyasha's jaw locked. "I can't believe you and your mood swings," he hissed through his teeth. "If you weren't seventeen I would say you are jealous."

"Seventeen year olds can feel jealous too," Kagome countered. "But I'm not. You're the one who clearly has a problem here; when you're not growling at me for stealing some diary, you get all moody about my not remembering your girlfriend's first name." Really, that was a lie. Ever since she knew about Inuyasha being in a steady relationship, she had also registered the lady's name.

The young girl stormed up the stairs, a fuming Inuyasha ready to follow her and argue back when the door bell rang. Grunting in frustration, the lawyer stomped to the front door. The door bell rang three times. Four times.

Five times.

"Fuck! Why don't you people _ever_ take your keys with you—" Inuyasha froze in mid-sentence when he pulled the door open. There was an old, balding man with bulging eyes standing in the doorway and he was carrying a huge backpack with him. The kind of backpack one would take for hiking. "What…are _you_ doing here?"

"Wha'?" the greying, middle-aged man asked with a funny accent. "You, young man, comple'ely disappeared. Totosai didn't even kno' you left Osaka. This cu'e girl, your neighbor or somethin', actually told Totosai you moved in Tokyo."

The twenty-seven year old arched an eyebrow. "You spoke to Nazuna?"

"Who?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. _Ugh. Dumb fuck. Still talking about himself in third person._

"Gonna le' Totosai in already?" the old man complained. "Totosai needs a smoke."

"No smoking in here," Inuyasha snapped. "No one smokes in here. Besides, you're not even welcome!"

Bulging eyes widened—as if they weren't big enough already—in horror. "Ya gonna let your goddaddy sleep outside? But it's freezing!"

The grown up man let out a long, childish sob and cursed all that was holy—and he lived in a _shinto_ shrine, really—out loud, kicking and punching the air. He really needed to call Sesshomaru. _That bastard is never going to see the end of his fucking career if he's the one who sold me out._ Besides, he needed to tell him he wouldn't be leaving so soon.

_Even though I've had all kinds of arguments with Kagome today._ Women.

Inuyasha had yet to realize he was back to considering the raven-haired girl as a woman.

* * *

**Word count:** 1,860.

* * *

_**Acknowledgments**_

**SailorKagome:** Wow. You're breaking my heart. I shocked you anyway and I consider that as a good thing. :D

**Mika:** Aww. Am I actually predictable? Dammit, you're reading into my mind. Anyway, I wish I could see a barely clothed Inuyasha in real life too. Hmm. Too bad he's just a character. I love to see with his shirt off. Remember that episode with demon!Inuyasha and his chest was bare while he fought another one of Naraku's minions? Yum.

**HanyouGirl:** You're so smart for asking. :) There are actually forty-four chapters planned for this story so secondary characters – like Sesshomaru – aren't in a hurry to make an appearance. He will be there, though, in a couple of chapters, if I recall correctly. Small appearance. It will get better… later. I wish I could add more of him but he lives alone and all he has in mind is his career and… Nah, I'm not telling, haha.

_(no name):_ It was a good excuse indeed. I hope you liked the new turn of events!

**Katelyn:** …I'm doing all I can? I hope this was fast enough. As soon as I go back to school things will get worse. But thanks for reading!

* * *

**A/N:** Some people out there really thought there would be no romance between Inuyasha and Kagome (or assumed there was no romance) and that Inuyasha was indeed leaving the house. While I'm pleased to see I can still create some kind of, err, suspense, I'm surprised to see you guys think I really don't have it all covered. _(sighs)_


	18. The Common Thread

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_"The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together." – Erma Bombeck._

* * *

_**The Common Thread**_

The house was cramped.

When Shippo woke up that day at noon, he noticed two things; first, Sota was nowhere near in sight and the boy was known to be a heavy sleeper and second, there were people screaming, yelling and shouting downstairs. Rubbing his eyes, the redhead hopped off the small, single bed and went to use the bathroom. Miroku was actually done shaving.

"Yo, Ginger," the young, indigo-eyed man greeted, turning the faucet on and bending over to rinse his face.

"You are up early. Why?" the little boy asked, getting to his own business.

"Got a few things to do. Need help?" Shippo nodded and the short-haired man came up behind him, then lifted him to avoid him making a mess. "Here we go! Psss…"

The five year old arched an eyebrow. "I am a kid and I am short, that doesn't mean I am stupid. I know how to pee, thank you very much."

Miroku chuckled and put him down as soon as he was done. "You hang out with Sota a little too much in my opinion; sarcasm is going to kill you someday."

The two of them bathed together in a very Japanese fashion then and once he was all clean and dressed, Shippo went downstairs with a huge grin marking his features. His classmates had gone to the organic zoo the previous day and since it was Saturday, all he had to do was find Mr. Lawyer and beg for forgiveness—or at least pretend to do so, since the guy had somehow figured out that he had something to do with the sudden disappearance of his old, ugly, battered, yet beloved car. It probably didn't help that he had been showing off the broken car key to Sota…

Shippo ran down the stairs only to have a scowling Kagome scold him. "I said no running in the house, especially not when you're using the stairs," she reminded him. "You don't want to break your legs."

"Yes, Kagome." The redhead watched as she grabbed her coat and his curiosity spiked. "Where are you going? Why are you all so busy? And where is Sota?"

"Sota is hanging out with Kohaku at the mall. Actually, that's where I'm meeting up with Sango," the doe-eyed girl answered with a smile as she put her gloves and scarf on. "Miroku is eating lunch and…Grandpa and Inuyasha are still arguing with Yanami-san."

"You mean Totosai."

Kagome shook her head. "It really seems like no one is planning on showing that poor old man some respect."

"He walks barefoot," the green-eyed boy pointed out with a giggle. "I didn't even know Mr. Lawyer had godparents, just like me."

"Christians have godparents, Shippo," the seventeen year old girl replied absentmindedly as she sent a text message to Sango. "Your parents were Christians and apparently, so was Inuyasha's mother."

Shippo rocked back and forth on his heels, humming. "Mr. Lawyer says he hardly lived with the old man." When the older girl remained silent, the redhead shrugged and instead, he asked, "Can we go to the organic zoo, Kagome?"

Holding back a frustrated sighed, the raven-haired high school student turned to face the young boy with a small smile. "It's a natural park, Shippo, not an organic zoo. Do you really want to go today?" She received a nod full of enthusiasm.

"They all went there yesterday with the teachers and Grandpa didn't want me to go. I want to talk about it too on Monday," Shippo explained with a pout meant to seduce. "Inuyasha promised me we would go but…the old coot is there." He muttered the last part so that Kagome wouldn't get mad at him. She already seemed to be on edge.

"Shippo, I don't—" Kagome paused, biting her lower lip. She didn't have real plans with Sango and wasn't in the right mood to talk about anything that was too adult-like. Maybe…she could use the distraction. "Okay," she whispered. "Let's go."

There was more angry shouting and the sound of a something—most probably a plate—shattering to the ground startled both Kagome and Shippo. A raging Inuyasha came out of the living room, his jaw and fists set tight.

"I'm out of here," he growled. "I can't believe you are all letting him stay—he is a _nuisance_ and a leech. A bloodsucker and a money moocher," he complained, moving to grab his own coat.

"Guess what, he is your family," Kagome pointed out none too friendly.

"Your cleverness never ceases to amaze me," Inuyasha retorted, scoffing.

Paying no mind to their sour moods, Shippo squealed and grinned mischievously. "Mr. Lawyer! You haven't forgotten about the organic zoo!"

"It's fucking called a natural—" _Fuck,_ he inwardly cursed as Kagome pinched his arm for his foul language then remembered about his little deal with the redhead. "Natural park it is, then."

Shippo ran upstairs, ignoring Kagome's previous warning, to grab his disposable camera. On the other hand, the young girl was fuming and plotting Inuyasha's upcoming murder. Chocolate brown eyes flashing, she watched him as he got ready to leave and accompany the little boy to his organic zoo. This was unbelievable. Somehow, Inuyasha always found a way to irk her even more. It was all so irritating. She really thought she had made it clear—she didn't want to deal with bellowing people.

"What?" Inuyasha grunted, now fully clothed. "Why are you looking at me like I just killed your dog?"

"I was going to take Shippo to the park, you know. You don't have to push yourself into doing things that clearly are bothering you," Kagome patronized him, her hands on her hips.

"Oh my fucking…" The lawyer let out an irritated laugh. "Look, I promised the kid a _while_ ago, so I'm taking him. That's as simple as that. Besides, can't you see it's raining cat and cows? We're taking your grandfather's car. He already said I could use it."

Kagome bit her tongue to avoid getting in another argument with him and shook her head. "It's _cats and dogs_, Inuyasha, not cats and cows. Now, stop talking to me."

"You're annoying."

For some reason, the bitter retort came out the wrong way and there was a hint of fondness in his tone.

* * *

"We're never taking that car ever again," Shippo had said upon reaching the Shimizu Natural Park.

Inuyasha couldn't have agreed more. That car nearly killed the three of them—when was the last time the old Higurashi had brought the old piece of scrap to the garage for a car check? They totally stalled at some point and in the middle of a crossroad no less! Kagome had grabbed his arm so hard he was sure her not-so-long nails had cut through the material of his shirt. He could still feel the pain.

The redhead was currently gaping at some unnamed animal and having a one-sided conversation with it. Inuyasha had long decided that weird and inventive terms couldn't get past his skull. Big animals were big animals and odd trees were odd trees to him so he didn't even bother reading the many labels explaining what was this and what was that, whereas Kagome was on her way to learn everything.

"Hey," Inuyasha, bored out of his mind, addressed the five year old, "where is the other brat, the one who is as moody as his older sister?" From the corner of his eyes, he saw Kagome twitch and straighten.

"Idiot," he heard her mutter as she walked away.

"Sota would have never tagged along with you here," Shippo answered, still waving at the gorilla behind the glass. "He has never really liked you, you know."

It stung a little but Inuyasha was most definitely curious. Apparently, it was kind of hard to get on the Higurashi siblings' good side. "Is that so?"

"Well, he was against the idea of letting a stranger sleep in his Momma's bedroom," Shippo explained, "but other than that, he also says that you are always ogling his sister, you have always been and now you're just good at hiding it."

By the time he was done, Inuyasha's mouth was hanging open and his jaw was about to fall on the floor.

"I don't know what all that means, though," Shippo added, grinning at the big black monkey. "Sota is way too smooth with words."

_Brats. Fucking brats,_ Inuyasha's blood boiled. _I am never obvious._ He drummed his foot on the floor and never saw Shippo switch to another animal, then to another one and so on. _Besides, how can a kid see so much? He is totally making that up._ Yet, he had to admit, he had been a lot attracted to Kagome when he first arrived to the Sunset Shrine. He was positive that this…attraction was long gone, though. Why would Sota be upset over something as ludicrous as that? Should he try and talk to him? Inuyasha sighed loudly, wondering why he was even bothering. _Gramps._ Well, of course, there just had to be something holding him back from being a total jerk.

There was a light tug on his sleeve and Inuyasha turned to face Sota's sister. Her face was flawless, pale, though her cheeks were rosy and her lips pouty. Her gorgeous wavy hair was cascading on her shoulders and he had to admit she had never stopped being attractive. He was the one who had stopped noticing it, although Sota would have said quite the contrary. _Well, he is wrong. I am not deceiving anyone here._

"I asked one of the security guards and he told me the park would be closing in a few. Where is Shippo?" Kagome asked, her sharp tone clearly implying that she was still angry at him for some other silly reason.

"Shippo?" Inuyasha shrugged and turned to his left side. "Well, he is—" His eyes widened in mild horror. "—not here."

"Obviously."

"Obviously."

It took them about thirty-two seconds to actually realize that the _five year old boy_ had disappeared. Blame it on the redhead for always acting so much older and on the both of them for being so irresponsible. Kagome's bottom lip trembled and she immediately exited the gallery that was practically empty, save it for Inuyasha and an middle-aged couple, and ran outside, where the air was as cold as it was humid, looking for Shippo frenetically and calling out his name.

**_"_**_**The Shimizu Natural Park is now closing. Please make sure you are heading toward the exit doors. Thank you and have a good evening,"**_ the robotic, feminine voice spoke through the speakers.

Inuyasha went after Kagome, all the while wondering where those security guards she mentioned were hiding. If Shippo had gotten lost, they would be of a greater help, wouldn't they? "Shippo, for fuck's sake, where are you?" he shouted for the umpteenth time in the past five minutes, the cold wind biting his skin. He saw Kagome stand on the other hand of a nearby wooden, traditional Japanese bridge, breathless.

_**"The Shimizu Natural Park is now closing. Please make sure you are heading toward the exit doors. Thank you and have a good evening,"**_ the robotic voice spoke again.

Shippo was nowhere to be seen.

Inuyasha ran up to the young girl, who was so worried she was trembling. "Kagome, this fucking place is closing. Shippo has probably been taken to the reception desk or maybe he couldn't find us and is now waiting for us outside," he tried to reassure her, placing his hands on her shoulders and steadying her.

"What do you mean he couldn't find us? You didn't even move from your spot, you stayed right there!" the raven-haired girl shouted at him, pointing at the gallery entrance, angry at him for daydreaming and at herself for not keeping an eye on the boy.

"Kagome, I am sure he wasn't kidnapped or anything and…" Inuyasha stalled, his deep brown eyes now glued to the enormous water fountain that was located near the Chinese pond, a few feet away from them. "Goddammit."

Kagome raised her eyebrows and followed him as he stormed off where Shippo was actually poking at a couple of frogs with a thin branch. Relief flooded over her; thankfully, Inuyasha had been right. She watched with a tired smile as he argued with the red-haired boy and walked towards them at a rather slow pace.

"Why didn't you tell me where you were going?"

"You weren't even listening to me!"

"You had us worried, little brat."

"As if you would worry."

"Kagome did."

Shippo faked a whine and turned his big green eyes to the raven-haired girl standing behind Inuyasha. "Kagome! Mr. Lawyer is being mean to me!"

"Shippo," she warned, "let's go already. We will talk about this later and with Grandpa." It might have been her imagination but she swore she saw Inuyasha stuck his chest out proudly.

When they reached the exit gate, they were tired, famished and in a hurry to go home. Shippo was still overexcited and jumping all over the place even though Kagome was securely holding his hand. Inuyasha advanced and attempted to push the gate doors open. When they didn't budge, Inuyasha's brow furrowed and Shippo stood still.

"Well?" Kagome whispered.

Inuyasha tried again but to no avail. He swallowed heard and did not dare to face the person who had been giving him the cold shoulder for nearly a week. "The gate is closed. Locked."

"You mean…we are stuck in here?" Kagome's voice was barely above a whisper.

Shippo was the only one who found that to be funny.

* * *

**Word counts:** 1,085; 1,262.

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_**Acknowledgements**_

**Mika:** Well, that's reassuring. It means I can still keep things interesting. I'm glad you like Totosai so far! He will be there for a few chapters, unlike Jakotsu. Unfortunately, I can't find a good reason to have him make a great appearance yet. (sighs)

**HanyouGirl:** Yep, forty-four chapters it is. This chapter was a bit delayed but it was finally posted!

**SailorKagome:** Hmm. This chapter should have given you a hint about what happened with Inuyasha's car. If it didn't, let me tell you that you are on the right track. :)

* * *

**A/N:** You guys should love what comes next. Cookies for those who are able to tell what I have in store for our favorite couple. Oh, by the way, I had a poll, previous to the one you can currently find in my profile, and some people voted for _Uncontrollable_ as the story that sucks the most since they thought Inuyasha and Kagome should just fuck. Well, even though that poll was meant to be a joke, my conclusion is that if you _really_ think so, then you are a very sad and frustrated individual. There is porn on the Internet, you know. :)


	19. When One Love Comes to Life

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_**When One Love Comes to Life***_

"Come on !" Inuyasha tugged angrily at the gate door handle when it still wouldn't open. "Fuck!"

Kagome took deeper breaths, resisting the urge to snap at him. He had been going at it for the past five minutes, ever since they tried calling Grandpa and failed miserably. There was no signal, which was as odd as it was aggravating; they were trapped in a natural park but they weren't out of town—not at all in fact and there was even wireless Internet service inside the buildings and galleries. The whole situation was beyond her.

Standing next to her, Shippo was shivering from the cold. The sun had set a while ago and he was wearing no hat. Kagome's frustration suddenly turned into a concerned one and she crouched in front of him, placing her hands on his small shoulders. "Are you cold, Shippo? Want my gloves?"

The five year old boy nodded shyly, suddenly feeling uncomfortable about their current predicament. If he hadn't left Mr. Lawyer's side…

"Bah! Let him freeze already—this is _his_ fault after all!"

Exactly.

"Inuyasha!" the teenager finally snapped. "This isn't Shippo's fault! We are to blame. We were supposed to keep an eye on him—he's just a small boy," Kagome argued, fully convinced that the redhead shouldn't feel guilty for anything. Even if he did not behave, it certainly wasn't his intention to get them stuck in there.

"Alright, alright," Inuyasha grunted. "I just need to take my anger out on somebody."

Kagome snorted. "Well, it doesn't have to be Shippo."

"You wouldn't let me take it out on you."

She closed her chocolate brown eyes and sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted. A little white cloud escaped her lips, the winter air chilling her uncovered skin. Her cheeks were rosy and her lips were starting to hurt. Kagome could hear Shippo's chattering teeth and she was positive the boy was just trying to ignore the silence that had settled between the two _adults_.

There was a vibration, followed by a resounding _beep_. Inuyasha instantly checked his cell phone, grinning madly when he realized they still had a chance to get out. There was some signal—it was weaker than Miroku's good will when a dirty magazine was handed to him but it was still there.

"You can call?" Kagome gasped, her eyes glinting with hope in the darkness of the park.

"Let's call Grandpa!" Shippo said excitedly, clapping his hands together.

"Call the fire brigade, the military police—whoever could get us out of here in no minute!" the raven-haired girl pressed, marching towards the older man.

"I am going to call the one person who can pull enough strings to have the entire army save us from _this_," Inuyasha announced proudly, speed dialing their soon-to-be savior's number.

Then, there was some endless beeping.

_**"**__****__He_llo?"

Kagome and Shippo both held their breaths.

And the rant began. "Not that I need your help right now but well, something…came up and you know, I was just having a bad day and then I realized I hadn't visited to a natural park for quite some time now and in the end I—"

**_"_**_****__I_nuyasha, your words are all muffled and I cannot hear you very well," his half-brother dryly commented. There were loud noises in the background, people chatting and talking and raising their voices. _**"Hurry up."**_

"You cannot hear me?" Inuyasha shouted, frowning and doing his best to ignore Kagome as she gestured him to hurry up, indeed. "I am fucking stuck in a natural park and you cannot hear me?"

**_"_**_****__In_uyasha?"

There was some incessant beeping and the call abruptly ended.

"Hello?" The young man screwed his eyes shut, feeling utterly frustrated. "Shit," he cursed. "Shit, shit, _shit_."

"This is—" Fuming, Kagome marched towards him and grabbed his cell phone, fully ignoring his protests and giving him the you-don't-want-me-to-piss-me-off-more look. She then rushed to the nearest bench, even though that meant getting further away from the gate doors and away from civilization, where mobile phone reception wasn't problematic at all, and climbed on the large, tall wooden seat.

"Kagome," the redhead boy still whined as he slowly followed.

Inuyasha remained silent as he silently concluded that they were bound to spend the night freezing in that damned _organic zoo_. They should have gone home when Grandpa's car from the twentieth century first tried to kill them. They should have. Dark brown eyes watched intently as the young girl dialed the same number over and over again. Apparently, the signal was still weak but at least, it was there.

_Slim legs…_

"Grandpa? Can you hear me now?" Kagome suddenly exclaimed, startling Inuyasha from his not-so-noble thoughts and getting Shippo's full attention.

* * *

Loud crying erupted.

"Oh my goodness, it cannot be!"

"This is it—my heart is going to fail me again!"

"Totosai feels as worried as a migra'ing bird flying 'o a country that has yetta be name'!"

A very annoyed Miroku rolled his eyes at the elderly trio and glanced at his younger cousin who was still playing the Wii. Sota suddenly cursed—Mario had won the race. Again.

"I suck as Luigi," he heard the young Higurashi grunt in a very Inuyasha-like manner, something that amused the indigo-eyed man to no end. "What's this all about?" the boy asked as he noticed that his grandfather was panicking and dialing random telephone numbers while Kaede ranted away and Inuyasha's so-called godfather blabbed about something else entirely.

Miroku shrugged, his hand patting under the sofa cushions, hoping to find his own cell phone. "Your sister called. They're still at the park and can't get out or something like that. I dunno."

A smile broke over Sota's lips. "You mean, they're stuck? Is Inuyasha with them?"

Another shrug. "I think so, yeah."

Laughter erupted and typically contrasted the elders' exaggerated and most likely fake despair.

Miroku half-smiled and shook his head at the short boy, letting out a sigh of relief when his cell phone vibrated under the cushions, which made it easier for him to find it. The scratched and broken screen was flickering and he furrowed his brow. Since he had very few friends, it was uncommon for him to receive texts that weren't from his other…_housemates_.

"Totosai's tellin' ya; call the p'lice!" the old man with the growing beard nearly ordered the shrine keeper who was also the owner of the house.

"_Oh_, that wouldn't be such a bad idea," Kaede pressed, her tone so sugary it was almost sickening.

"The police!" Grandfather Higurashi scoffed, glaring and pointing at Totosai. "My baby granddaughter wasn't kidnapped, you—you teeth-losing loser! I am calling the fire brigade. Pfft."

Miroku's eyebrows shot up and he blinked. _What the hell? What's gotten into him—into all of _them_…?_ Promptly deciding that he was the only sane person in that madmen's house, he slid his cell phone open and was about to call the military police, at least for some information, or else his cousin would freeze along with a whining redhead and a grumpy lawyer, but then he noticed that the text message he received was from a certain brunette—an _annoying_ brunette who wasn't able to take a hint and bugger off.

His eyes softened, though, as he read the friendly message that left him wondering about the many possible things he could say…just to text her back because as much as she was annoying, she also was the total opposite of a butt-ugly woman.

As Sota shouted at the characters of his video game, Miroku went upstairs, whistling and humming, having completely forgotten the reason why he wanted to call the military police. _Never heard a more stupid idea,_ he thought to himself, chuckling.

And the elders almost wrestled for the phone, still not knowing who they were supposed to call.

* * *

Kagome kept her eyes on Shippo's sleeping form, feeling far more worried than usual since they were out in the cold, the angry winter time urging them into finding a solution that would help them get home. _What's Grandpa doing, anyway?_ she wondered. _It's been two hours already. Haven't they found a solution yet?_ Thankfully, it wasn't snowing. The dark sky wasn't so clear neither but at least, it didn't look like it would be raining again any time soon. The air was humid and the ground slippery but this they could manage.

_It seems like Shippo isn't cold at all._ Kagome smiled at the sight of the five year old as he was all wrapped up in Inuyasha's warm coat and wearing her scarf and gloves. He was lying asleep on the wooden bench beneath the large weeping willow that did a poor job at sheltering them from the cold winter wind. There was the Chinese pond nearby but also the rivulet that ran through the natural park. Kagome shivered. _They'd better hurry up and come for us before we get frostbite._

There was a loud sneeze and she jumped.

"Damn."

Kagome rolled her eyes and ignored him. She heard him move, the sound of footsteps—he was probably standing closer to her now.

"Think he's okay now?"

She didn't answer.

As childish as it was, Kagome felt as if it were better to stay mad at him than to vent out her frustrations. He chose to stay, to help, to talk and to do a lot of other things that had her confused. He was the one who couldn't help but be everywhere. He was there, constantly. Inuyasha wasn't just living under the same roof as her—he was also on her mind. Constantly. So to remain silent and to feign anger was her best option.

"I am talking to you, in case you didn't notice."

He sounded annoyed, pissed even, and Kagome decided to face him. She turned around, huffed and raised an eyebrow at him as if to say, _Here. I noticed._

Inuyasha scoffed. "I can't believe you," he said loudly, not even bothering to keep his voice down and let little Shippo have some rest. The dark-haired man took a few steps forward. "This has been going for days and you—_sh-sh-shit_!" he cursed for the umpteenth time, slipping on the frozen ground, his arms waving and gesturing. Surprisingly enough, he managed to keep his balance and not to fall face-first onto the ground and right in front of her.

The young lawyer exhaled loudly when he was able to stand straight again and wasn't expecting to hear Kagome's bubbling laughter. Deep brown eyes glanced at her and his lips curved up at the sight.

"S-sorry," she stuttered, laughing some more as she recalled the look on his face when he had to be thinking that he would be going home with a bruised butt.

"Are you…making fun of me?"

"Sorry," she repeated. "No, it's just that—"

"You've been giving me the cold shoulder for what, a week maybe and now you're making fun of me?" he elaborated, a growing smile on his lips.

Kagome took a deep breath and placed a hand on her chest as she stopped laughing. She then looked at him, pursing her lips when she noticed how pale he looked and how his lips were turning violet from the cold. He was still standing right there and relatively close to her, looking stupid and so very handsome.

"Do you want my coat for a while?" she asked quietly, already unzipping it.

Inuyasha shook his head. "No, just—your hands," he requested, slowly reaching out when she moved closer, looking at him curiously.

She took his large hands in her small ones—or maybe it was the other way around. She gasped. "They really are cold," she stated, running her palm over the back of his left hand in an attempt to warm him up. There were only a few inches separating them and she could feel the heat emanating from his body even though he had to feel as cold as an iceberg at the moment.

Inuyasha moved even closer, staring down at their joined hands. His fingers traced the lines on her palm, then caressed the skin connecting her left thumb to her index finger. His careful touch had her holding her breath and shivering for a whole new set of reasons. The moment his movements ceased, Kagome knew what was about to come and she would have run away if the gate doors weren't closed and locked and if she were a total hypocrite. Instead, she tilted her head, looked at him through her lashes and stayed right there.

His hands left hers and cupped both sides of her face, his lips descending on hers with much needed and repressed passion, immediately assaulting her mouth. Kagome gasped, both from the realization that this was real, that it wasn't another teenage fantasy, and from the pleasure she felt as he nibbled her bottom lip then ran his tongue over it. She shivered again. It felt weird, only on rare occasions had she been kissed, but it felt very nice.

Kagome wrapped her arms around his shoulders, then tangled her fingers in his long, dark mane. She parted her lips wider, let him have a better access and Inuyasha quickly unzipped her coat to slip his hands inside and encircle her waist, pulling her closer to him. He held her firmly, feeling the blood pumping through his veins then rushing to the lower parts of his body, creating a sensation that was both pleasurable and gut-wrenching. Inuyasha heard her let out a soft noise that was neither a moan nor a sigh and he slipped his tongue inside, tasting, licking and playing with her own muscle. Her natural taste was even sweeter in his mind and like a schoolgirl on her first date, he was completely lost in that moment where Kagome was kissing him back and holding on to him. She was panting and she probably needed to catch her breath but she didn't stop, she never did.

This was what he had wanted to do for months, ever since she greeted him the day he moved in the Higurashi household with a small suitcase, an old, battered car and very little money. This wasn't a teenager making out with a grown up man. This wasn't an unsuccessful lawyer holding a high school girl close. This was just him with her.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, a green-eyed boy watched for a few minutes then went back to sleep with a huge grin on his bubbly face.

* * *

**Word counts:** 808; 527; 1,127.

* * *

_*Title taken from Anna Oxa's song, _Quando nasce un amore_ (1988)._

* * *

_**Acknowledgments**_

**Whoobonhooaglo:** Well, here is the beginning of the 'sufficient romance' you were expecting. Thank you for such a wonderful comment, by the way. :) And you must be right; my username throws people off—I can't find a better explanation. I do write lemons but hell, I cannot have two characters have sex so quickly. Bah.

**SailorKagome:** _Uncontrollable_ is your favorite story? Wow. I am flattered. Really. Especially since you have high standards. And you have my respect. Seriously, I could never write poetry. Never. Anyhow, I am glad to see that you enjoyed the previous chapter so much you were…_rolling on the floor laughing your ass off_.

**Mika:** I like having a five year old Shippo thinking like a much older boy. I am not one to like children but I definitely fall in love with those who can be more mature than us sometimes. I hope this chapter was satisfying enough!

**Riya:** Thank you, dear. It's good to hear I can still amaze you. :)

* * *

**Author's note #1:** Tis the chapter you've been waiting for, I think. If you still have reclamations, then you are a teeth-losing loser. Because there are more Inuyasha and Kagome moments to come. Ha.

**Author's note #2:**_ Can people really get stuck in public locations, like the park and the mall?_ You're asking me? It's fiction. I don't know about the mall – it sounds like bullshit, but natural parks I can imagine. I mean, open spaces can be real wide and I could totally get lost in there, especially when there are pretty animals to stare at. Besides, I don't believe in security guards. Why don't you just try and get stuck, and tell me about it afterwards?


	20. The First Thing You Have to Do

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_"If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up." – J. M. Power._

* * *

_**The First Thing You Have to Do**_

Surreal. It was surreal.

It felt as if she had just woken up from a dream—one of those pleasant, good and astounding to the extreme dreams. The kind of dream you never want to end but that leaves you with a feeling of fulfillment that is so heartwarming waking up isn't so bad in the end. Yes, that was exactly how she felt.

Yes, they were finally out.

Her grandfather, on the other hand, looked like he had just woken up to a frightening nightmare but she was frozen to the bone and couldn't care much less; it had been an excruciatingly cold and tiring night.

Kagome glanced to her left; Inuyasha was standing there, holding a half asleep Shippo in his arms. The night had been far more terrible for him since he had removed his warm, winter coat and wrapped it around the five-year-old. Still, they did find a way to fight the cold weather…

_Damn. This isn't the right time to blush,_ she chastised herself. This was pitiful. She wanted to bang her head against a nearby wall, if there was any, but then the whole scene would turn out to be awkward and her favorite tenant—not that she had any other, but anyway—wouldn't find her attractive anymore. Because she _was_ attractive, right? Who would kiss people they found repulsive—except hoes and man-whores?

…What if Inuyasha was a man-whore? He did have a girlfriend, didn't he?

Realization hit her like a ton of bricks topped with a load of horse shit. Great. This was plain great.

"Kagome!" Grandpa all but shouted in her face, grabbing her upper arms and shaking her roughly, as if he wanted to make sure she was real. "Kagome, Kagome, Kagome! It is you!"

"In the flesh, Gramps," she assured him, her hair slapping against her face.

"I was right; you almost died in there! Look at your pale face," Grandpa said with a horrified look on his wrinkled face. He jumped then, nearly pushing her away. "How is Shippo?"

The redhead that was currently drooling on Inuyasha's shoulder cracked an eye open.

"You poor, poor lovely little thing," the always exaggerating and _cooing_ Kaede added, pushing past Kagome and Grandpa, promptly snatching the boy from Inuyasha's arms. "You are having some hot soup as soon as we get you home in order to warm your tiny little body, hmm?"

Shippo grimaced. "Mr. Lawyer promised some pizza. He said I was a good sonofa-something who did not faint on him."

Kagome, who wouldn't have had the same reaction had she not made up with Inuyasha the previous night, giggled whereas everyone else glared at their tenant of five months. The lawyer cleared his throat, looking away from the old bats and in her direction. There was an uneasy silence as the teenager caught him staring.

_What is he doing?_ Her eyes dropped to the ground and she tried her best not to blush, _again_. _What if someone—Gramps—notices it—us—this?_

"Kagome," Miroku's voice startled her. "I see you're okay. I'm glad." He stepped forward, placed his hands on her shoulders then hugged her and rubbed her death-cold arms.

She didn't know her cousin had come as well. Her little brother was running towards them and launched himself on her once he was close enough. "Body slam!" he quoted*, his skinny arms encircling his sister's waist.

Kagome's lips curved up instantly, her own arm coming to circle Sota's shoulders. "You squirt—who'd think you'd get up this early to come and rescue me!"

"Who do you think I am? Someone needs to be the responsible one in the family!"

"You were glued to the TV screen, you opportunistic liar!" Miroku said in his defense, pretending to feel hurt.

"Well, you don't get to say you woke up early, considering you never went to sleep—and these are your regular non-sleeping hours!"

The raven-haired teenager openly laughed at her brother and cousin's bickering. She had been trapped in the natural park for four to five hours but it still seemed like she had been away from her family for an entire day.

Kagome never thought she would be the type of girl who would easily let her feelings have the best of her as soon as it came to _the_ family—she had never been so, in fact, not until her mother passed away. Getting stuck in a monumentally huge, natural park didn't help; she hated it when her grandfather worried about her. He was way too impulsive and ever since he had a heart-attack, everyone tried their best not to provoke him. However, in the end, her family wasn't all there was.

Getting stuck in a monumentally huge, natural park had been scary, in fact. First of all, Kagome had worried about Shippo and Inuyasha getting sick and getting sick herself—there was no way they could pay more hospital fees. Then, there was also the ridiculous fact that the park keeper had fallen asleep in his cabin, which didn't help what already was a fastidious reality—that security was less efficient when the ground was slippery and the wind colder than dungeon rocks.

In the end, the only positive thing had been—_this,_ Kagome thought as she caught Inuyasha's stare again. Kagome was intrigued. He wouldn't stop doing that and, well, in honesty, their kiss had been something else. It had been their first kiss—not that she wanted it to happen again anytime soon; it wasn't something she considered as right, so it could totally be their only kiss. Yet, it had been as unexpected as predictable at the same time. Kagome didn't whether he was the skilled one and she the unexperienced one or…

_I may be overanalyzing everything. He is a grown-up man; this could have been a in-the-heat-of-the-moment thing for him or some fantasy—_ Kagome's eyes widened. Did he not realize she was only seventeen? _Could he be some sort of old pervert?_ That would explain the look he was currently giving her.

Inuyasha licked his lips and the muscles of his face twitched as if he were about to say something but between a lecturing Kaede and an overexcited Grandpa, there was little he could do.

"They freed you already," an unfamiliar voice interrupted the loud Higurashi hubbub.

Heads turned at the same time. There was a tall, elegantly dressed man who had to be older than just thirty-five. He walked towards the small group with his hands in his pockets, long, straight and blondish hair cascading down his back. A young, black-haired woman followed him with a toothy grin. That was also when they all realized the police wasn't too far away and still interrogating the security guards and the park keeper that were bound to get fired, along with the cleaning staff who had found the three non-prisoners prisoners.

"What the fuck, Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha reacted.

A loud _'oooh'_ could be heard in the background. The kind of _'oooh'_ that really meant, _Oh, so this is the half-brother who carries a stick in his ass._

"After all the nonsense you deafened me with last night, it was my duty to come and check on you; if you indeed lost your mind, this could be the perfect occasion to have you entering an appropriated establishment," Sesshomaru answered with a frightening calm voice.

"It's called a loony bin, you fag." Sulking, Inuyasha glanced at the young lady who was staring at his brother like he was the best thing since toilet paper. "Hey, I thought you were dating that dominatrix monster—strawberries-and-whipped-cream?" He whispered, his lips curving up without him even realizing it. "What is chocolate-ice-cream doing here?"

"You should be grateful your brother came for you."

"You hypocrite—you're using me to hit on her."

"I need nobody to court a lady."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes so hard he nearly caught a glimpse of his brain.

"Let's go home already!" Grandfather Higurashi motioned everyone to follow him, gesturing with his right arm. "We're not camping in front of these gates."

Kagome nodded; they had been done with the statements a while ago.

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow as he watched Inuyasha follow the Higurashis. His half-brother shrugged, announcing, "I decided not to move. You can give the apartment you found back."

As if on cue, Sota appeared next to him, grinning cheekily. "I know you took care of my sister and Shippo but I still don't like you." The boy sauntered back to his older cousin, who was already leading the way towards Kaede's car.

"You are suicidal," Sesshomaru commented before he left himself with the young assistant.

"I know," Inuyasha muttered to himself, "but it's so worth it," he added when his brown eyes landed on a certain seventeen-year-old's swaying hips.

* * *

There was no describing it. As she exited the bathroom after was had been the longest and warmest bath in history, Kagome sighed loudly, feeling better than ever—she was clean and wearing large, comfortable clothes, and even though she was so hungry she could eat an elephant, all she wanted to do was slumping down on the couch and sleep. She was tired, indeed.

There was a problem, though. She knew she couldn't sleep. It was silly; she could neither eat nor sleep, all of this because she was too busy fantasizing over a much older man and wondering why they ended up kissing in the middle of the night, in a natural park, when they were as frozen as icebergs and far from being hot. She also wondered, had he been thinking about kissing her for a long time? Had he always liked her? Answering these same questions lead Kagome down the path of stupidity.

She may have not wanted to kiss him for a long time but she did like him a lot. She considered it a normal thing, having a crush on somebody who was way older than her, but wasn't it meant to remain a crush?

Then, there was also the other side of the coin. What if he didn't care that much about what happened? He could be a sick and selfish bastard who got all horny whenever he could hold a teenager close.

Kagome ran a hand through her hair and removed the bangs from her eyes. There was no need for her to act and think as if she were some sort of a drama queen. All she would do for now was pretend nothing changed and be her non-awkward self. How disappointing would it be if Inuyasha realized she was an immature idiot who couldn't get over it? Besides, if he had any intention to talk about it then he would just have to and she would listen. Really, she would.

A shiver ran down her spine and she sneezed. Damn winter. February was even her least favorite month.

Deciding that she wouldn't mind some of the soup Kaede mentioned before, Kagome went down the stairs and noticed that there was too much noise, considering that Sota, Shippo and Miroku had gone to sleep an hour ago. Could it be that Grandpa was still fighting with Inuyasha's godfather?

"My goodness, you do look sick. Why don't you come over? I'll take care of you," a feminine voice she didn't know said in a hushed tone.

_That's definitely not Totosai._

"It's okay, I'm telling you," Inuyasha reassured. "I…didn't expect you to come at all," he added, his voice trembling suspiciously.

"Your brother informed me; that was even more unexpected so I thought you really were ill." She sounded serious. Mature. A woman.

Kagome swallowed—she tried to, at least. Her throat was dry. From the corner where she stood, she could see an above-the-average woman, dressed in expensive slacks, brushing nonexistent dirt off Inuyasha's clothes. Recognizing her wasn't so hard.

_Kikyo._

The teenager scoffed. Forgetting about the kiss was her best option.

* * *

**Word counts:** 1,484; 522.

* * *

_*And this was taken from? (Ms. Kinky's eyes are glinting.)_

* * *

_**Acknowledgments**_

**Too lazy to log in:** Finally, indeed! Did that make you happy?

**Mika:** Oh, things will go uphill then downhill then uphill again… Sorry for updating this late! I hope you enjoyed and thank you for the feedback!

_(no name)_: I always reply. :) Thank you for your review; it was high time they kissed, haha.

**SailorKagome:** Let's not celebrate this early, although it was totally achieving for me to write that scene. This has been going on for nearly three years and all we've got is a stupid kiss. I shall improve. (hint, hint)

**fudge:** So romantic? Really? Wow. Sorry for making you wait, then!

* * *

**A/N:** I wish I could have written more than just a transition-like chapter. I am sorry if that disappoints you but my exams start on Saturday 28th and I cannot fail, meaning I cannot have any distracting activities. That would make me feel better. I hope you understand. Thank you all for the incredible feedback I received for last chapter. I felt so loved! :)


	21. The Changing Color of The Waves

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_"__Sit in reverie and watch the changing color of the waves that break upon the idle seashore of the mind." – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow._

* * *

_**The Changing Color of The Waves**_

As he sat there on the couch, staring at the awful scene playing in front of him, Inuyasha frowned, making a small sound of meaningful displeasure.

Kikyo went home two hours ago, leaving him with a bad feeling of guilt. The woman had been fantastic, with no sense of irony, if not a tad clingy. Kikyo _was_ clingy, ninety-percent of the time. She had the looks, she had the brains, she had the money but sometimes, the intimidating woman that she really was turned into a giggling teenager, which was disturbing, to say the least. Still, Kikyo worried about him and that was the reason why she came to check on him earlier.

She was gone now.

"Totosai is telling you! Totosai never forgot about you!"

Inuyasha scrunched his nose. His annoying, talking-in-third-person godfather wasn't, however.

"I highly doubt it," the mummy lady scoffed, to which Inuyasha rolled his eyes. Kaede was totally acting that bit. "How come you waited forty years to show up then?"

"Totosai told you; he forgot. Totosai's presence he'e is a me'e coincidence! That' because his grandson left Osaka for Tokyo in the first place!"

"Hey!" Inuyasha snapped, raising his hand as if to object. "I am _not_ involved in _any_ of this. I didn't even know you old folks knew each other."

The raven-haired boy sitting across from him in a comfortable chair snickered. "You know this isn't an audience, right?"

"Shut up, Sota."

"Hey, don't talk to him like that!" the redhead sprawled on the rug and petting the Higurashis' fat cat playfully scolded.

"Yeah, don't talk to me like that," the older boy chimed in.

"Shit," Inuyasha cursed, massaging his temples with his thumb and index finger. "You two are even more annoying than the Forresters* over there."

The young girl who was sitting next to him chortled whereas the elders were too busy to glare at each other to hear his comment; even Grandfather Higurashi, whose ears practically twitched whenever there was a noise, was fully concentrated on what was currently happening, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Inuyasha blinked once, twice, almost amazed that Kagome actually acknowledged him and doing a very bad job at hiding it. They hadn't talked since they—

"Kaede! Please, listen to Totosai—"

"Won't this idiot stop talking in third person!"

"Why should I listen to someone who clearly forgot about me!"

"Totosai nev' did! Totosai kept pictures of you, when you we'e but a lovely twenty-year-old lady!"

Grandfather Higurashi scoffed. "Can you really believe this charlatan?"

Kagome's laughter doubled as soon as she caught the sight of her younger brother's and Shippo's titled heads, a disgusted look on their faces. Inuyasha settled for the gagging part.

"You guys are so immature," she whispered. "They have the right to be in love."

"They do, alright," Inuyasha nodded, "but I thought being in love involved two people only, not three."

Kagome's eyebrows instantly shot up."Really, you thought that?"

Immediately catching the double meaning, Inuyasha cleared his throat and looked away. _Shit._

_Crap,_ she mentally cursed. _That wasn't supposed to come out that way._

"Eww!" Sota cringed. "Can you imagine a threesome involving Grandpa, grandma Kaede and Totosai?"

Big green eyes stared at him curiously. "What's that?"

While Kagome scolded Sota for the umpteenth time and swore to all that was holy that she would later have a talk with Miroku, Inuyasha tried not to imagine that sickening threesome scene and replayed the Higurashi girl's words in his head.

Kagome had to be thinking about Kikyo, which couldn't be more predictable since the prosecutor had been there nearly all day. The problem was that he actually wasn't thinking of said prosecutor. The fact that Kagome refused to even look at him—probably out of embarrassment, at least he hoped—had him thinking about her only. It threw him off, completely. He was twenty-seven and had nothing with Kagome; they weren't in love, they weren't in a relationship—they weren't even dating, for fudge's sake. There was no reason for him to feel like a teenager. They were friends—sort of—and there could have been a crush at some time. They had kissed, perhaps even cuddled….

So they did cuddle, Inuyasha reasoned. There was no reason to lie, not to himself. They had spent hours out in the cold, kissing then cuddling. _To keep warm_, he reminded himself, afraid to let his minder wander off to forbidden places, such as her soft hips and warm thighs. Kagome was the cloud he could never reach, no matter how much he wanted to. She was young and she probably didn't realize what had transpired between them. Besides, the fact that he had a girlfriend spoke volumes of how incredibly wrong even thinking about what-could-be-s was.

"Instead of serenading her, why don't you get out of here?" Inuyasha heard Grandfather Higurashi yell after an overly dramatic Totosai.

Glancing up to the girl who was carrying her little brother the way she would a bag of potatoes, the black-haired lawyer wondered what kind of spell she could put on him to make him feel even more pathetic.

Inuyasha's head jerked.

That was it; he needed to get a grip. Thank goodness no one could read his mind; they would never look at him the same way. What a poor, pathetically groveling man, they would consider him as.

"Goddammit Sota! Don't pull at my hair!" Kagome shrieked under Inuyasha's amused stare.

He watched, smirking, as the siblings wrestled on the floor. This was a natural thing to do for Kagome and Sota—thankfully, he never had to wrestle with Sesshomaru. That would have been disastrous. _For Sesshomaru, _the lawyer convinced himself.

Kagome shrieked again and he looked back at her, which turned out to be a very bad idea. The chocolate-eyed girl was crawling on all fours towards her annoying younger brother and away from him. In other words, her butt was an arm away from his face. All he had to do was to reach out and—

He almost blushed. _Fuck, this is creating me problems. I should probably see a therapist._ Shaking his head, Inuyasha stood up and went inside the kitchen to pour himself a glass of cold water. Someone should have told him that a kiss from Kagome would have caused him a life of painful blue balls. "This is even worse," Inuyasha muttered, making a face. _I turned into a fucking pervert._ And there was no reason for that; the sex with Kikyo was good—great even, so—_Wait. Right. There is Kikyo._

Inuyasha wanted to strangle himself. "This is fucked up." He drank his water in a haste and exited the kitchen just as quickly. He would lock himself in his room, be safe and—

_Bump._

"Sorry."

_Great timing._

"I was just going to get some water," Kagome whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and avoiding his gaze at all costs.

Inuyasha shrugged, then cleared his throat. "It's—"

_Okay? Fine? Fucking perfect, thank you for letting me know?_ Jaw locked, Inuyasha stared at her with intent. She wouldn't look at him. Well, she would have to because he was literally on her way.

"What?" Kagome finally looked up. "I need to—"

There was the distant sound of the landline ringing but neither paid attention to that. The house was filled with shrilling noises and between the elders' shouting and the boys' playful cries, the only captivating sound was, unfortunately, the silence that settled between them. Inuyasha's deep brown eyes bored into Kagome's. He grabbed her wrist; she jerked away, as if to protest. He did it again, more firmly, and dragged her away, into his room, where no one would disturb them.

* * *

"Here, here. Coming," Miroku lazily muttered to no one in particular as he came down the stairs, a thick book in his hands. "Hey, why isn't anyone—" Raising an eyebrow, the young man froze in mid-complaint.

He had genuinely thought that all the ruckus was just the usual. He never imagined his grandfather would actually not notice that Sota and Shippo had turned the living room into a marble battlefield in order to shove Inuyasha's godfather out—unsuccessfully.

Yawning, he picked up. "Hello."

_**"…**__**Miroku?"**_ a surprised female (sort of?) greeted. _**"Hi. This is Sango."**_

"Yeah." He yawned again. "I think Kagome's still napping. I don't see her in the living room."

_**"**__**Oh. Okay**_." She didn't sound convinced at all. _**"How are you doing?"**_

"Huh?" The question threw him off. "Fine, I guess. Busy."

_**"**__**Really**_?" the brunette chuckled. _**"I—"**_

"I'll tell Kagome you called and make sure she calls you back, don't worry."

_**"O-okay."**_

Miroku exhaled loudly. "Okay. Bye." He hung up as soon as she uttered her own goodbye.

The indigo-eyed man scratched his unshaved chin and glanced at the technology and electronics book he held in his left hand, the book he had received from Sango on Christmas. With a huff, he dumped it in a nearby trashcan and went upstairs.

* * *

*Taken from _B&B_, obviously.

* * *

**Word counts:** 1,316; 227.

* * *

_**Acknowledgements**_

**SailorKagome:** Yep. Three years. And I swear it's going to take me at least another year to fully complete it. That is, if I am unlucky and get too busy. And sorry for not answering you sooner: YES, a thousand times YES, you can write a poem based on _**Wait There**_. I would be honored. :)

**whoobonhooaglo:** Yes, I do sleep. I sleep a lot actually. ;) Thank you for the wonderful compliments, my dear! And as I mentioned it before, I have planned 44 chapters for this story. It sounds like a lot of crap needs to be written but considering how short these drabbles are, I think it's okay.

**riya:** Thank you for your review. :) I guess time will tell what exactly will happen between Inuyasha and Kagome.

**Mika:** Uphill next chapter, maybe? I love writing Shippo, by the way, which a funny thing because a) I don't particularly like him in the original series and b) I have a total dislike for children in general. Anyway. Sorry for making you wait! I'll build a flying car for you and beg for forgiveness. (And thank you for wishing me luck on my exams!)

* * *

**A/N:** So sorry for the long wait. Now that I am done (I hope?) with my exams, I shall update faster. :) Thank you for the great support!


	22. This Very Moment

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_"Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure." – Oprah Winfrey._

* * *

_**This Very Moment**_

"Let me," she yanked her arm away, "go!"

Kagome massaged her wrist, all the while glaring at the man who had just pulled her into his room without a single word and probably for no reason either. Inuyasha returned her glare and shut the door behind her; he stood right in front of her. She was cornered.

"Let me out," she ordered, impatiently tapping her foot on the floor. This situation was hell. She could barely look at him when there were other people in the same room and now they were alone, in _his_ room. Tricky situation. Tricky.

Arm extended, Inuyasha kept his hand on the door. "No. You look at me first."

Kagome kept staring at the buttons of his shirt. "I am."

His lips curved up. "Not at my chest; I want you to look me in the eye, Kagome."

Her cheeks reddened and as she lifted her head, she reminded herself to keep breathing. Not too fast and not too slow; steadily. Her light brown eyes stared right into his deeper orbs. She saw his lips move. That was when her brain decided to shut down. Moving, moving… he was definitely talking to her. He paused then, licked his lips and it gave her goosebumps. She shivered and unlike the previous night, it had absolutely nothing to do with the cold weather; her house was warm—she felt warm. Too warm, actually.

"…Kagome?" He placed his other hand on her shoulder and repeated her name, his eyes searching hers.

She snapped out of the trance state she had gotten into by just staring at his lips and groaned loudly. She _had_ to be that obvious, of course! Now he would definitely look at her and see the annoying, drooling teenage girl who couldn't get over a simple kiss and he would get the wrong idea, too, because she had definitely gotten over—

"Kagome," Inuyasha called her name again, "your face is so red I think we should worry." He sounded pleased.

This man was making fun of her.

Slapping his hand away, the seventeen-year-old girl shouted in his face, "I haven't gotten over it yet. I admit. I am a grown girl and I admit." She gulped, her eyes glued to him, waiting for a response. Any form was fine.

"What?"

_So maybe not any form._ "The kiss, Inuyasha, I am talking about the kiss," she mumbled shyly. _What else would I be talking about?_

"What about it?"

She was going to set fire to his hair if he kept it up. "Are you," she gasped, "trying to make me say something I don't want to say?"

The lawyer scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I think _you_ are trying to make _me _say something I don't really want to say."

"You can't be—!" Kagome put her hands on her hips, finding it hard to stay right where she was standing. "You pulled me into your room like there is something this important and this private we need to talk about and now you put on your best casual act? What's wrong with you?" Resting her back against the door, she added quietly, "And there aren't a lot of things that are as important as they're private. So."

"I was…" Inuyasha's voice was just above a whisper. "I asked you why you were—kind of—avoiding me since that kiss. That…was what I asked you when you zoned out."

Kagome's blush intensified, her heartbeat increasing to the point she thought she would have an attack. She wanted to disappear. _Idiot, idiot, idiot—_

"I didn't think the kiss was something that needed to be…clarified." Clearing his throat, the dark-haired man diverted his gaze to the bookshelf on his left. "But if you actually want to talk about it, then—"

"No!" she cut in abruptly. "No," she repeated, her voice much gentler, holding her hands in mid-air.

"No?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow and staring back into her brown eyes.

She shook her head, paying no attention to the fact that he had already taken her hands in his. The much older man leaned in; their breaths mingled and it was just appropriate time when their lips connected again. Twenty-four hours didn't even last.

As if a timer was set on, Inuyasha grasped Kagome's shoulders and pulled her as close as he could, a task that became a lot easier when her hands moved from his torso to his neck. She was short and just like the previous night, in the natural park, the girl stood on her tiptoes, having no trouble in keeping her balance since his arms were now carefully wrapped around her rather slim waist. It was never enough.

Running his tongue over her upper lip, Inuyasha's left hand traveled up to her face, his thumb tracing patterns over the material of her shirt and carefully landing on her soft cheek. Her face was hot; he imagined she could hear her heartbeat in her ears, just the way he did. As he heard her gasp, he pictured his little raven-haired beauty with swollen lips—lips that needed a decent amount of attention to actually get there.

Kagome's lips were already parted. Her ragged breathing was the hint; slowly, he slit his hot muscle inside and when he felt her respond to his call, he licked the roof of her mouth. Her head instinctively jerked backwards but he held her in place, pursuing his explorations: under her tongue, nearly down her throat—literally—and Kagome melted. The cynical part of her wondered, somewhere in the back of her mind, who thought _legs like jello_ was the accurate idiomatic expression. Her knees weren't shaking. Her legs weren't wobbly. Her legs, or rather, the muscles in her legs were reduced to fruit compote. To mashed potatoes.

The two of them parted then, breathing heavily, but his lips never quit teasing hers, brushing against hers. He nipped and sucked, his eyes half-open, much like hers. Her blush had probably spread like fire. Fire. She felt hot. She was going to implode. Ridiculous. As her common sense went up and down the roller-coaster of reason, the teenage girl felt her tenant smile against her lips.

"Wait," she half whispered, half breathed. "Wait, wait, wait," she repeated, having trouble catching her breath. "You cannot smile."

"I can't?" he sounded amused.

"You can't smile because you know this situation isn't something to smile about."

_You sound so bright, you just put the Google creators to shame,_ she inwardly mocked herself.

"You cannot pull me into your room and kiss me as soon as your girlfriend goes home." Distancing herself, Kagome wrapped her arms around her waist, involuntarily creating a nearly dramatic effect.

"Kagome, I…" Inuyasha paused, running his fingers through his messy black hair. "I will tell her."

She wanted to scoff. She _really_ wanted to but refrained herself from doing so. "Tell her what?"

"I—I don't know yet!"

"Oh, I thought the kiss wasn't something that needed to be clarified?"

"I—"

Kagome's cell phone vibrated in her pocket and she immediately checked the caller ID. _Damn,_ she mentally cursed, _I missed three phone calls—two from Sango and this—_

"Snooze," she sweetened her vocabulary when her cell phone vibrated again. "Hello?" she quickly answered, already pulling the door open. "Hi," she hesitantly greeted when she heard a masculine voice on the other end of the line. "Yes, I just got back. How do you know? Did Sango tell you? …She told her roommate…who told you…." A pause, then she laughed, heading out of the room. "I am going all stereo on you; sorry, Koga."

She didn't miss the way Inuyasha violently kicked the door shut. That was definitely something to smile about.

_**"**__**You promised we would see each other soon,"**_ the economics student reminded her, _**"but first your grandfather is taken to the hospital, then you get abducted by natural park animal refugees—"**_

Kagome chuckled again. "I know. I am sorry. I should be okay now."

Wincing when she couldn't hear what the slightly older boy was saying because of the shouting contest that was taking place in the living room, the high schooler grabbed a random magazine on the decorative end table in the middle of the corridor. She was about to head upstairs when she noticed one of the thickest books in history in the trashcan. Kagome was barely listening to her supposed friend talking to her over the phone when she realized that said book was actually the one Miroku had received from Sango on Christmas.

Coming to the conclusion that it had to be another silly prank of Sota's, she grabbed the book and went upstairs, humming some response to Koga.

* * *

"…and here is the written procedure."

There was more ruffling and then the prosecutor handed him another document. "This goes straight to the judges."

Inuyasha dropped his pen. "Not now, Kikyo. After the first meeting and before the audience." He massaged his temples, glancing at the wall clock. It was almost three in the morning.

"Before the meeting," she insisted.

"It is not what the—"

"Why do you think I gave you this procedure-in-a-memo thing if everything goes just the way the law proscribes it?" she snapped. "It doesn't. We follow the procedure, we do, but differently." Dropping into a chair next to him, the woman in her late twenties sighed and reached out for his hand. "Sorry."

He forced himself to smile. "I am tired, too. It's okay."

She ran her other hand through his hair, her head resting on his shoulder. "Why don't you go home then?"

Inuyasha winced.

A part of him regretted the moment he told Sesshomaru to give back the apartment he was supposed to move in alone, especially since Grandfather Higurashi constantly pestered him about Totosai, who refused to leave, and the house transformed into a war zone. There was no way he could get some sleep at the shrine. That, and Kagome was odd. She talked, she acknowledged him, she was nice but also refused to spend more than three minutes with him, which was silly. What was he supposed to do, drop the bomb on Kikyo when they she was still supposed to help him win his case?

"Inuyasha?"

"Nah," he finally responded. "I would rather stay at the office tonight. There's still a lot I haven't figured out yet—I am not used to this," he confessed. "I usually work with my clients; not with prosecutors and professors—no offense to you and The Dreadful."

The long-haired woman smiled at the nickname. "None taken. Don't worry, though, you are to meet Matsuno-san very soon. It's just that…we have orders." Kikyo sounded displeased to say the least.

Inuyasha's eyebrows shot up. "So that's how you do it here?"

Kikyo straightened in her chair. "It's not just massive drug dealing we are talking about," she subtly changed the subject. "As a defense attorney—"

"Court-appointed," he chimed in.

"—your job is to back up the statement the kid made to the police."

Inuyasha groaned, his head aching already. "What kid? Isn't this Matsuno guy a wealthy asshole with a great pair of gold-plated balls?"

"That's the father," Kikyo corrected, standing up and gathering her stuff as she decided it was time to get some rest and to let the lawyer have it his way. "You have the son. He's well over twenty but you know how parents are."

_Not really, actually._

Inuyasha leaned back in his chair, nodding. "He won't go to jail."

His girlfriend smiled at him one last time before she kissed him on the cheek. "I know you're good. Myoga thinks so too, you know."

"Hmm."

"You will meet Koga Matsuno in a couple of days."

* * *

**Word counts:** 1495; 530.

* * *

_**Acknowledgements**_

**car:** Thank you! … Here, here, heeeeeeeeere!

**SailorKagome:** Yeah, I have two sessions actually. I am done with the first one, which is the reason why I am updating so much. :) At least once you are done with your exams, you are done for good. Me? Nope. Anyway, poor Miroku's has got it coming, don't worry. And Inuyasha is just starting to learn what the word karma means.

**Mika:** And you can repeat it over and over again and I would still be happy to hear it. I have a thing for comical relief and secondary characters so I am glad you like it too. How boring would this story be otherwise? Good luck on your finals!

* * *

**A/N:** Dun-dun-_dun_. Bad cliffhanger. It was a lot better in my head but it's one in the morning and I need my beauty sleep. So. Review?


	23. The Most Selfish

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_"__Next to the very young, the very old are the most selfish." – William Makepeace Thackeray._

* * *

_**The Most Selfish**_

Holding hands. Walking under the setting sun. It really was the perfect, romantic atmosphere.

Tingling sensations. Butterflies in her stomach. There was none of that.

The air was humid, she noticed. There couldn't have been a better opportunity to lean closer, let him hold her and rub her upper arms. They did go on a date after all. Cuddling and kissing were next—supposedly. Not that she wasn't in the mood—she _was_ impressed; really, she was. Most girls would be excited at the idea of dating an older student and her heart did skip a few beats whenever he would look at her with those gorgeous, light blue eyes, and mention casualties. The only problem was that she didn't feel like seeing him again.

A part of her felt older, morose and constantly worried. Koga could stare at her all he wanted and send a couple of shivers down her spine, there would always be thoughts invading her mind, even when she would be dreamily gazing into his eyes. Did Grandpa take his medicine? Who helped Sota with his homework? Did something happen to Kaede—was she able to pick Shippo up? What about Miroku, did he call the repairman and tell him about the faucet?

"Well…" Koga cleared his throat. "Here we are."

Kagome tilted her head, frowning when she realized they actually stood before the shrine steps. "Right." She winced; she sounded relieved. Did he notice?

The college student chuckled, letting go of her hand and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I would love to take you out sometime—for dinner, for example. I kind of realized trips didn't fit your schedule."

"Koga—"

"And afternoon outings aren't what I prefer," he added with a treacherous smile.

"I could never go on a trip with you, even if I wanted to."

"You just told me you didn't want to go on a trip with me."

Kagome blushed then, laughing nervously. She bit down on her tongue, knowing she would stutter if she were to say anything to him. She rubbed her forehead, pushing away the raven bangs and finally smiled. "Just…" _Let's stop. Or stay friends. You clearly have unclean intentions._ "…pick me up for dinner sometime."

_Coward,_ she chastised herself.

Koga grinned at her, leaning in to—obviously—kiss her goodbye.

A loud sneeze had them both jumping.

Inuyasha stood less than twenty meters away from them, next to the rented car that temporarily replaced his—the battered car that had gone missing for quite some time. He looked annoyed, more so than usual, and Kagome guessed it had something to do with his accompanying Totosai to the gardening club. Gardening became his newest passion since he learned Kaede was a member.

He waved at her, heading her way.

Impulsively, Kagome grabbed Koga's hand and leaned in again, pecking him gently on the lips. All previous thoughts on making him understand there was no chemistry between them disappeared the moment her brain registered a capital information: Inuyasha Taisho, the man who was ten years her senior, who didn't kiss her once but twice, who had a ridiculously tall and beautiful girlfriend was walking towards her.

Koga reacted immediately, capturing her lips and kissing her fully, running his tongue over her bottom lip.

She backed off.

"Let me know," he said to her with a satisfied grin plastered on his face, "for the restaurant, I mean."

"Restaurant?" another masculine voice chimed in. "What restaurant?"

Kagome rolled her eyes, picking her lips.

The blue-eyed young man sent a quizzical glance her way, chuckling. "Is he…" He paused, taking in the faint wrinkles, the button-down shirt tucked into the jean pants and the long, apparently unkempt hair that characterized Inuyasha. "…your uncle?"

"You wish, loser; I am your lawyer," was very much what Inuyasha wanted to say to him. Instead, he settled for a casual introduction, meaning that nodding to Koga was all he did.

It took less than two minutes for his criminal to disappear, stealing another peck from Kagome's lips, much to Inuyasha's pleasure…and displeasure."

"So," he grunted.

"So," Kagome repeated, watching as Koga disappeared around the corner.

"You could have introduced us," Inuyasha suggested, glaring at the petite girl who refused to face him completely.

"You're not my uncle, are you," she mocked, turning heels to climb the shrine steps.

"Now, wait," the much older man stopped her, grabbing her elbow and pulling her to him. "You can't see that guy. I mean it. You can't," he all but ordered her, deep brown eyes boring into hers and watching as her confused, puzzled expression turned into an infuriated one.

He could be jealous all he wanted but he had no right to order her around. "What did you just say?" She jerked her arm away, taking a step back and returning his stare. "I can date whoever I want, whenever I want, especially when Grandpa is not against it."

Inuyasha scoffed, his long black hair a mess as the wind blew harder. "I bet he doesn't really know how old that guy is." _Nor that drug dealing is daddy's boy's favorite hobby._

"I bet he would throw you out as soon as I tell him his beloved lawyer plays the lovesick Romeo with his only granddaughter," the raven-haired teenager spat back. "You do have a lot of nerve," she added quietly.

"It's not jealousy," he corrected her thoughts, his voice softer. "It's for your safety. You're a great girl."

He didn't notice that the more he spoke, the more he leaned in, inhaling her lavender-scented perfume. But Kagome did.

She quickly spun around and started climbing the never-ending shrine steps.

"It's not jealousy," she heard him repeat. "Not only, I mean."

With a stupid smile on her lips, Kagome jogged up the steps, said smile faltering when she recalled Koga's hopeful expression when she mentioned dinner with him. She should have told him she didn't feel like going out anymore.

_Coward,_ she chastised herself again. _You, my dear girl, are a selfish coward._

* * *

Something was off.

It had to be the way Sota was picking at his food and Kagome staring blankly into her plate. Or it could be the fact that for once, Miroku ate slowly instead of devouring all that could be found on the dinner table and was edible. And Inuyasha… Grandfather Higurashi shook his head. That young man wasn't even intrigued by the tablecloth! He would usually pester him or Kaede to know where such horrors could be found so that he could send some to his half-brother. Thankfully, Shippo was still bouncing on his knees, eating for three _and_ Totosai was already sleeping.

Invading godfathers were invading.

"Come on, young people," the old man groaned, "it's March already, spring time is coming soon and you all look like a funeral is going on."

Kagome stood up abruptly and he jumped, his glasses nearly falling to the ground. "I am not hungry," she stated, putting away the leftover food.

"You know what, me neither," Inuyasha added, mimicking her actions.

Grandfather Higurashi watched with narrowed eyes as the two of them stiffened when they fingers brushed upon clearing the table together. Something was off.

"What was that?" Sota comically lifted his head, as if some supreme deity just called his name. "I think video games are claiming my soul."

He moved to stand up when the greying man pinched his ear. "They already claimed your brain, boy. Do your homework instead!"

"What was that?"

Kagome huffed. "Not again, Sota, just do your—"

"No! I mean really!" the young boy protested, rubbing his ear.

"I think the phone ringed, Grandpa," Shippo explained, grinning at the older people in the room.

Ginzo Higurashi was telling Miroku to go answer the phone when he was cut in mid-sentence. The speaker was on and the caller was already leaving a message. There was a croaking sound and silence filled the room. Then, a familiar voice spoke.

_**"…**__**Hi, Dad. It's Riko. Regards to everyone."**_

Kagome and her grandfather exchanged worried looks.

_**"**__**Miroku, it's Mom. I am in Hong Kong right now—at the airport. I will be back tomorrow. This has been going on for years and it's…ridiculous, really. You can't leave at your grandfather's expenses, especially now that my sister is… And damn it, you are twenty-six. Pack your things. I will see you tomorrow."**_

* * *

**Word counts:** 1,034; 403.

* * *

_**Acknowledgments**_

**Mika:** You are very welcome! :) And totally adorable, too. I bless your relationship with this story, haha. On a more serious note, I hope you did well on your finals.

**SailorKagome:** Your. Review. Was. Priceless. I loved it. I totally did. Next time you shall add the commercials, too, haha.

**anon:** Thank you for all the compliments! I can't believe this story made you cry at some point. Wow. And thank you for this awesome review.

**Whoobonho:** I do update quickly? Hmm. I still have doubts about that but thank you! I do hope they will someday write a fan fiction encyclopedia and mention my glorious pen name in it.

**kinara103:** Don't worry, it's okay! And thank you :)

* * *

**A/N:** This was short, yet delayed. I am sorry. I am getting my exam results tomorrow, so… Cross your fingers for me if you don't plan on leaving a review! Please!


	24. Can't Change It

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it." – Mary Engelbreit._

* * *

_**Can't Change It**_

Inuyasha massaged his temples for the last time. The damned headache wouldn't go away and he had been stuck with it the whole morning. There wasn't any aspirin in that more than ugly office. Did Sesshomaru ever get headaches? What was he, some kind of a superman? Inuyasha stopped pacing and slumped down in the chair. There was no reason for him to be nervous. He would receive the guy—asshole, really—in the attorney general's office, namely Sesshomaru Taisho, and go through all the details on how the trial would proceed. Clearly, his confined office wasn't good enough, not that he was about to argue about that.

The moment he heard someone knock on the door, he straightened in the chair and cleared his throat. Sesshomaru's secretary entered shortly after and informed him his client arrived. Inuyasha nodded, then stood. As soon as said client walked in, the black-haired man reminded himself that this was business and went to greet him for ethics.

As soon as his half-brother's secretary left, the blue-eyed ass wipe before him asked, "Aren't you…Kagome's uncle?"

_Little bastard._ What he wouldn't give to break his neck… "Good morning, Matsuno-san. As you already know, I am Inuyasha Taisho and I will represent you in court," he recited as he went to sit behind what supposedly was _his_ chair.

The college student scoffed. "Cut the crap, I'm still trying to get a better lawyer."

"That would explain why I've been stuck with your shit for the past six months," Inuyasha spat back. His Matsuno client looked somewhat shocked but definitely not intimidated. "I bet no one is willing to take the job no matter the price your family is offering," the brown-eyed man added quietly.

"That's none of your business and I came here to listen to what you have to say about this…" Koga paused, gulping and clearing his throat as if the world wouldn't come out. "Trial."

Inuyasha arched an eyebrow and crossed his arm over his chest, leaning back into the chair. "Plead guilty."

_Predictable,_ he thought the moment Koga slammed his hands on the desk.

"Six months! Six fucking months spent _working_ and you tell me to plead guilty?" the younger man yelled, then ranted on, "You poor excuse of a lawyer, I am supposed to win the trial here!"

It was Inuyasha's turn to scoff. "You're the one who spent six months looking for someone else and _besides_," he emphasized, "if you actually plead guilty you win no matter what."

His client wasn't convinced and it showed.

"Adding up your penalties, the total is twenty-five years of jail." Since Koga was about to argue, Inuyasha immediately went on, "It _will_ be jail because everyone knows you are loaded. It would be far too easy to let you go with monstrous day-fines. So plead guilty and at best you'll just have to spend ten years in jail."

"At best?" the blue-eyed man muttered before he let out a strangle chuckle.

When he started laughing loudly Inuyasha sighed exasperatedly.

"Well then, _Matsuno-san_," the lawyer acknowledged, "let's plead innocent. Let's risk it all," he offered, a pen in his right hand and his personal notes in his left.

"No," Koga snapped, leaning over the desk. "No, I can't—I won't—I can't go to jail," he stammered, realization hitting him like a ton of bricks. "You don't understand, my father—"

"Look," Inuyasha cut in, having heard enough, "your father cannot buy you out of this otherwise he would have done it already. These judges won't listen to you so you better stay clean until the day of the trial."

"But I—" The younger man laughed nervously. "I didn't only sell to minors."

The lawyer's eyes widened. This guy was either stupid or completely oblivious to his actions.

"That's exactly why penalties were added."

"But these bastards—"

"—are on trial too. Now lower your voice or get your ass out of here," Inuyasha shouted in the younger man's face. There was a tight moment of silence, then he added, "You must tell Kagome."

An almost frightening grin appeared on Koga's face, piercing light blue eyes settling on the confident lawyer. "So you _are_ her uncle," he whispered, taking in Inuyasha's annoyed expression, "or maybe you're her want-to-be boyfriend, you sick pervert."

Inuyasha's fists tightened and he repeated to himself that hitting the boy would also get him on trial. "If you don't tell her," he croaked out, "I will. I know her family."

"I may be a…criminal," the blue-eyed man admitted, "but that doesn't mean I am an idiot. You're clearly unprofessional or you have your eye on the girl."

"You are overage too. It's just less improper for you," was the most perfect reply the lawyer had in store but he decided it was better to stay quiet. Grabbing an already printed paper and his favorite pen, Inuyasha signed Koga's certificate and handed it to his client. "Here's your summons to appear. Prosecutor Hikada already signed it. Don't be late." _Asshole,_ he mentally added.

Koga snatched the paper from him and stood up, all the while glaring at his so-called lawyer. "You shouldn't have bothered," he said, "I am getting another lawyer."

"Keep dreaming," Inuyasha said back as his client left and slammed the door behind him.

_What a pain in the ass._ This boy was as overconfident as he was scared, which was unsettling. Inuyasha wasn't one hundred percent positive Koga would go to jail but there was a huge possibility and a part of him liked to think that at least it would prevent Kagome from seeing the blue-eyed dumb ass ever again. Yet, the trial was in two months. She could still see him plenty. Besides, if he actually told her, she would probably bite his head off before he could prove it to her and then, she would tell him to mind his own business.

And she would be right.

* * *

_Ding dong._

"Coming."

_Ding dong. Ding dong. Ding dong._

This was irritating. "Coming, I am coming, for fuck's sake."

The redhead who was jumping up and down on the couch gasped loudly. "Grandpa!"

"I know, Shippo, I know," the balding man groaned. "Just don't go repeat it."

The little boy was hot on Grandfather Higurashi's heels as they opened the door. The old man's jaw instantly dropped to the floor. There was a tall, slim yet curvy, black-haired woman standing in front of him, wearing a woman suit that was also black along with shining grey stilettos. Her eyes were deep and brown and she was smiling despite her serious expression.

"Hi," she politely greeted, bowing her head to the elder. "I am Kikyo Hikada. Is Inuyasha's here?"

"N-n-n-no," Grandfather Higurashi stammered. "Y-y-y-you should try his cell phone—I mean, come…in?"

"Hi, I am Shippo," the redhead introduced himself, his neck hurting from looking _that _up.

"Shit—I am sorry—I mean—" He wanted to kill himself. "I am Ginzo Higurashi; I own this place and I am also the shrine keeper."

Kikyo politely smiled again and waved at the little boy. "I know. Inuyasha isn't answering his phone. There is something I'd like to give him but it can wait."

The woman was about to leave when the old man stammered a response again. "W-w-w-wait, Miss Hikada. I could always give this something to Inuyasha myself." He grinned, hoping to be as charming as he could with a few missing teeth.

The woman in her late twenties giggled nervously, handing an envelope to the elder who was obviously drooling. "Here. Please, tell him I won these tickets for Florence and also that I am expecting him to call me. Thank you."

Kikyo left rapidly, leaving a puzzled Grandpa and a curiously excited Shippo. The old man gulped, holding the door open and staring into space. After five minutes of silence, he sighed.

"Who the hell is Florence, anyway?"

The redhead burst out laughing. "It's a country, I think. You said a very bad word again."

* * *

**Word counts:** 1,026; 360.

* * *

_**Acknowledgements**_

**Mika:** That thought crossed Inuyasha's mind, as you can see. I didn't think you'd like Kagome's reaction that much, haha. Naughty girls are the funniest girls around. ;) As for drama, that comes later, I guess. When are your finals results?

**SailorKagome:** You're crazy. A good kind of crazy, though. :D Thank you for the hilarious review. I hope you did well on your exams too.

**lakodasmoon:** And things are getting even more heated in a couple of chapters! Thank you for this comment!

**anon:** Thank you, you're so sweet. :) Sorry for the delay, though.

**howly:** That was an amazing line. Thanks. :)

**whoobonhooaglo:** Thank you a lot! I hope you didn't wait too long.

* * *

**(Long) A/N:** An overall thank you goes to everyone who wished me luck for my test results. They were out about a week ago (even more, actually) and everything went extremely well. I know grading scales are different from a country to another but over here getting an average of 70 is good. This isn't the final average since I have two more exams to take and I am hoping to get even more. So cross the fingers. I am still swimming in paradise knowing that I got 80 in the worst, hardest subject ever. Anyway, who cares? Thank you for the support. :) Much love!


	25. Obstetrically Once

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise and Viz. I make no profit from this story.

_No proof-reading for this chapter._

* * *

_"A suburban mother's role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after." – Peter De Vries._

* * *

_**Obstetrically Once**_

Midoriko Higurashi was a woman not to mess with. She was raised as the elder daughter and having lost her mother when she was ten, she quickly learned the meaning of the word "responsibility." She was a leader; she had managed to make a modest fortune when her husband lost his job and her rather small company certainly had a future. At the age of forty-five, she was still in great shape, her black hair long and straight. Her hazel eyes always looked tired, though; she was a woman who achieved a lot of things but who wasn't exactly happy. It was true that her husband had left after seven years of marriage, yet she had quickly found love again. Life wasn't so bright…especially when your son didn't want to see you again.

Climbing the steps of the Sunset Shrine wasn't an easy task when you wore high heels. By the thirtieth step, Midoriko needed to catch her breath. There still were fifty of them. If her father did this every morning, it wasn't surprising to know he was in good health.

"You were never born an athlete!"

The hazel-eyed woman raised her head, the corners of her lips immediately curving up into a bright smile. The last time she saw her father was on her younger sister's funeral. Sticking around was painful, especially when your son refused to talk to you and hid behind his grandfather as if you were a starved monster.

"Dad," she greeted, hugging him and having trouble breathing. She really needed to hit the gym.

"How have you been, Riko?" the short man asked his daughter with gleaming eyes.

"Not so bad," the forty-five year old woman answered, patting the old man's shoulder. "You?"

_Great, I even survived a heart-attack_. He couldn't possibly tell her that, could he? "Very good. The kids are good."

Midoriko shook her head, following him as he lead her inside. That was her father. As long as everyone else was okay, he pretended to be feeling well. If only he would stop lying to himself. And to her. She was his daughter. Losing his wife had been hard enough, then his younger daughter…. Maybe she should have tried to stay close to him but it always came back to the same problem: Miroku.

"Hi auntie," a high-pitched voice greeted. Big green eyes stared at her, mirroring curiosity. "Came for breakfast?"

"Hi, Shippo," she greeted back, brushing the bangs away from his face. "I did," she answered, nodding.

"Hey," a sleepy Sota said and she caught him in mid-yawn. "Been a while, auntie."

The two boys went into the kitchen, the elder dragging his feet.

"I am not sure you're still young enough to run after these young people," Midoriko pointed out in a hushed tone.

Grandfather father Higurashi scratched his chin, looking away. She wasn't exactly wrong but what could he said to her? He couldn't hire a mother… "Kagome is very helpful. Then there is Inuyasha—"

"Who is Inuyasha?" Midoriko asked, furrowing her brow.

"He's…" The greying man coughed. "…our tenant, you know?"

The businesswoman scoffed. "You're letting a tenant take care of our family?" she accused, indignantly crossing her arms under her chest.

"Well, it's not like you could do better."

As soon as she heard that voice, she turned around as if to make sure she wasn't losing it. Her grown-up boy was coming down the stairs, all dressed up and looking pretty confident. The look he was giving her, though… Saying he wasn't happy to see her would be an understatement. She didn't expect him to give her a warm welcome but this was too much.

As if reading her thoughts, Grandfather Higurashi grabbed her forearm. Calm, she had to remain calm.

"I certainly wouldn't be hanging around like you do, son," she spat.

…So she couldn't keep her head, but this kid was looking for it.

"Why are you here?" the indigo-eyed young man questioned her. "Weren't you supposed to come like, days ago? You usually follow your schedule."

"That's not the point," Midoriko changed the subject, glaring back at him. "I am here now and you are leaving with me. Hoshiyomi is waiting for us in the car."

This time Miroku burst out laughing. "You just _had _to bring your boyfriend into this."

"Will you two stop it?" Grandpa interrupted their argument, having noticed how the younger boys were hiding in the corner of the hallway, listening to what obviously was a private conversation between "adults."

"No, Dad," his daughter countered, "this boy needs to learn a few things, the first one being the meaning of the word 'independence'." Shifting her weight and raising an eyebrow, Midoriko told her son, "You see, independence is not about leaving your mother's home to live off your grandfather's savings and fart around since you have no job. And you cannot get a one if you don't go to college."

"Oh, I can," Miroku replied with a smirk. "I could be a garbageman. I'd rather be a garbageman than go home and study low-leveled business theory with you."

It happened so quickly no one saw it coming. In a couple of seconds, Midoriko was right before him. A slapping sound echoed through the house. His face reddened and he cupped his bruised cheek.

"Midoriko." Her father said her name, his tone serious.

She stepped back, swallowing hard, covering her lips with her fingers. "You…" Her voice trembled. "You have no right to say this to me when I worked so hard for you to have a decent future ever since your father abandoned you like an old pair of socks with holes in them."

"He abandoned _you_," Miroku corrected, half wondering whether he was hallucinating or not. Did his mother really slap him as if he were still five? "And you made it very clear that he had better not try to get in touch with me." Pointing his index finger at her, he added, "That was when you started screwing up. I don't need to remind you what happened next, do I?"

Grandfather Higurashi was pacing behind his static daughter. He knew the kids were listening but he was unable to hide anything from them. Sota was old enough to understand what was going on and Shippo was smarter than everyone else so there was no point trying to cover their eyes and ears.

"I didn't want anyone to have a bad influence on you," Miroku's mother explained. He could see it in her eyes, the way she was trying to analyze his behavior, his every movement. "But from what I see, you can't fight biology. You're just as worthless," she concluded, her voice breaking.

There was a cracking sound and a brunette slowly came down the stairs.

Miroku's eyes widened. "How long have you been up there?" he asked, nervously biting the inside of his cheek.

"How can you say such things to your son and still pretend to be a mother?"

* * *

When the doorbell rang for the third time, Kagome stumbled down the stairs, her face nearly hitting the floor. She was still wearing her pajamas, her hair was a mess but thankfully, she had some makeup on. She hated it when Sango was early but it wasn't as if she could complain; her best friend came over to drive her to school…and to possibly check on Miroku. Why be so delusional, Kagome wondered. It was pretty obvious the two of them weren't getting nowhere.

"Took you long enough," the brown-haired college student said as she went inside.

"It's seven in the morning, what do you expect?" Kagome defended, yawning and following Sango upstairs.

The both of them carefully avoided a potential collision with two kids who were too eager for breakfast, then entered Kagome's bedroom.

"Looks like you can shower now."

"I already did," Kagome replied, shaking her head. "I was ironing my uniform and I don't know what to do with my hair; I mean, look at me."

Sango chuckled, sitting down at her younger friend's desk. "You look like you've had sex."

The high school student dropped the iron. "W-what… A-as if I could… I mean, with who would I…"

"Aren't you and Koga dating? Not that I like the idea but…" The brunette shrugged, biting her nails. "That's what couples do."

Kagome was glaring down at her uniform, trying her best to hide her blush.

"Or maybe there's someone else?"

Chocolate brown eyes widened.

"I knew it!" Sango laughed loudly, spinning in the chair.

She then planted her feet on the floor as a bright yellow book on the bookshelf caught her attention. Kagome was busy feeding her excuses and denying absurdities to notice the change in her behavior. Sango gulped, trying to figure out what this book was doing there, in Kagome's room. Her friend was not interested in anything related to technology and electronics and this _was _the book she had given Miroku on Christmas.

…Did he not like it?

"Kagome?" Sango called softly. "Why is this…? Why do you have Miroku's book?"

The seventeen year old girl halted her movements. "I found it…in the trashcan." Panicking at the sight of Sango's distraught face, Kagome immediately added, "I-I think it was a prank of Sota's, you know, kids…"

Her friend was obviously not listening to her and Kagome cursed her inability to lie. She was setting down the iron when loud voices startled her and she dropped it for the second time. They interrupted Sango's thoughts as well, from what she could see, and about thirty seconds later, the two of them were crouching on the stairs.

Kagome could see her grandfather pacing in the hallway while Miroku was shouting in a much older woman's face.

"Who is she?" Sango asked in a hushed tone.

"That's…" _Wait…_ Frowning and tilting her head, Kagome answered, "That's my aunt. That's Miroku's mom."

They hid there for a brief moment, until the older woman completely lost it and started yelling at her son. Kagome covered her mouth when she slapped him, wondering whether the boys were listening to the argument. This was getting way out of hand….

"…you can't fight biology. You're just as worthless," Kagome's aunt declared.

It was Sango's turn to lose it. The brunette went downstairs, the wood cracking under her feet and Miroku looked at her in disbelief.

"How long have you been up there?" he asked her.

The college student ignored him, being too busy to glare at his mother to pay attention to him. "How can you say such things to your son and still pretend to be a mother?"

"I beg your pardon?" Midoriko scoffed. "Who are you? Miroku's girlfriend?" She rubbed her temples, whispering to herself, "This…and what else now?"

"No, I am not, ma'am." Sango refused to look at Miroku. He would probably hate her for not minding her own business. "Actually, I am not even sure I can say I'm his friend but…as much as he's not the son you wanted him to be, I think he deserves to be respected and—"

"Sango," Miroku cut in. "Please, don't."

The businesswoman woman shot them a look that said it all. "Don't be so ridiculous, the two of you." Diverting her gaze to Miroku, she ordered, "Pack your things. I'll let you calm down. I'll pick you up in two days."

When the black-haired woman left the house, Grandfather Higurashi let out a deep breath. Kagome was right behind him, soothing his back.

Sango refused to look to Miroku, even though she could feel his eyes on her. _What the hell were you thinking?_ she chastised herself. If she only could bang her head on the nearest wall… That would definitely help. Her heart was beating so fast, she only wanted to pass out and forget about what happened. She usually did mind her own business; she knew that family problems were just that: _family_ problems. She had no right to talk to an older woman the way she did.

Someone coughed then and everyone looked up. A rather embarrassed Inuyasha was standing next to the open bathroom door.

"I am sorry," he said quietly. "I am afraid I heard everything."

Miroku looked away, mortified.

"Don't worry," Grandpa reassured the lawyer. "I know it wasn't your intention. Besides, this is your home, too."

"But these conversations are meant to be private and… Well, seeing how tense everyone is, I think…I have an idea." Inuyasha stepped forward, staring at Miroku. "Kikyo—my girlfriend won tickets for Florence, Italy, only there are four tickets and it's just the two of us so… Miroku…"

Shame-filled indigo eyes looked back at him.

"If you'd like…"

"Thank you, man, but…" Miroku let out a strangled chuckle. "I am not playing gooseberry."

"You should go," Grandpa spoke. "It would do you a lot of good, I am sure of it." Patting the hand that was resting on his shoulder, the old shrine keeper asked his granddaughter, "Would you accompany him, Kagome?"

Inuyasha's and Kagome's eyes met in that moment and she stuttered, "W-what? M-me? I have school."

"Spring holidays are coming soon," her grandfather argued.

"If you're in," Miroku added, "then it's fine with me." Her older cousin smiled weakly.

She couldn't refuse.

Sango was nodding her approval and her grandfather's eyes were boring holes in the back of her head. Kagome _couldn't_ refuse. This was for Miroku.

Deep brown eyes gazed at her.

…But did she really want to spend the holidays with Inuyasha and Kikyo?

* * *

**Word counts:** 1,210; 1,138.

* * *

_**Acknowledgments**_

**Mika:** You passed too? That's amazing. I wish we could celebrate together. Let's say this chapter was a late present. :) My final score came in the mail two weeks ago, it's a 76 and that was hard to achieve; welcome to Law school. Now, do you still wish Inuyasha doesn't go to Florence? ;)

**SailorKagome:** I hope your results were great too. :) And what, Inutaisho and Kagome? Inuyasha and Kagome's mom? WHERE? WHO? Why, dammit, why are there so many freaks out there? It's not just you being stupid. I am sure these authors are on drugs.

**anon:** Thank you for being so comprehensive! And sorry if I had you waiting for this chapter.

**riya:** And here's the solution to Inuyasha's problem! ;)

* * *

**A/N:** …Been a while, uh? (sheepish smile) Sorry, guys. I know this story is kind of popular and I am doing a poor job at updating it.

And to everyone who's still wondering "who" is Florence… Let me quote Wiki.

_"Florence (Italian: Firenze, alternate obsolete form: Fiorenza; Latin: Florentia) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence."_

It is supposed to be one of the most romantic cities of the country but I wouldn't know. Unfortunately, that's not where I come from. But it serves the plot, haha.


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